Konohagakure Holiday
by AbsintheJade21
Summary: Roman Holiday Konohagakure style! Eventual NaruHina fluff, ramen, and a good, old-fashioned fight when Princess Hinata Hyuuga visits Konohagakure for a day, and ends up 'indisposed' with a certain blond Kyuubi container. Chapter 16 is up now!
1. Fire Princess in Konohagakure

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In this vein, I would like to admit that I own neither 'Naruto' nor 'Roman Holiday.'

**Konohagakure Holiday**

There was a small scratch in the marble. Hinata Hyuuga loving ran her gloved fingers over it, pressing them down hard enough to feel the small ridge. Her eyes traveled up the pillar, looking for other small imperfections. She found her reflection staring back at her in the polished surface. As her fingers continued to caress the marble she heard the muffled rustling of cloth rushing closer. She sighed softly to herself and then turned to find herself face to face with her personal assistant and bodyguard, Tenten.

"Your highness! What are you doing here?" Tenten looked nervously around the room as if rogue ninja were waiting in the classic entablature, ready to swoop down and abduct Hinata. Cocking her head to the side, Hinata giggled at the thought of goofy shadow clone cherubim emerging from behind the frieze sculpture.

"Tenten, you may call me Hinata," the princess said softly as Tenten bowed. Hinata frowned slightly and stiffened as Tenten ushered her towards the entryway. Her large skirts hovered noisily above the black marble floor as Hinata walked.

"Are you ready your highness?"

"Tenten, please," Hinata's voice quavered a bit. "I've given you permission to call me by name."

Tenten shook her head. "No, your highness. It wouldn't be proper."

Hinata sighed and then steeled herself as she faced the large ballroom. Tenten mistook her apprehension for nervousness.

"Don't worry, your highness, you'll be perfectly fine. You've done this a countless number of times."

"Yes," Hinata breathed, barely audible. "Countless times."

"Her highness, Princess Hinata Hyuuga."

Hinata entered the room with an effortless grace, a talent reserved for those who are naturally born with it and are brought up in an environment to nurture it. She plastered a serene smile on her face as she slowly walked up to the small dais in the center of the ballroom. It provided her with a circular view of the entire room, and was accompanied by a low-hanging cascade of crystal, brilliantly lit by dozens of flickering candles. Hinata turned her head demurely to the side, attempting to look coyly at the carpet on the dais. In reality, this maneuver was to avoid the blinding flashes of light that danced all around her.

Lifting her head slightly, Hinata's gaze fell on the richly upholstered chair and her serenity faltered. She ached to sit down for a moment, the shoes her dresser had picked out for her were two sizes too small. Hinata smiled as she recollected Ino's overzealous reaction to the deceptively simple-looking shoes.

"They're perfect!" she had screamed, to the dismay of everyone else in the small Konohagakure shop.

"Ummmm…but Ms. Yamanaka, they're not my size…"

Hinata's soft plea fell on deaf ears. "Of course you'll wear them to the ball tonight. In your honor!" After this proclamation Ino Yamanaka had squealed, clearing out the rest of the small shoe shop's clientele.

Hinata suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder and shuddered, suppressing the urge to jump. She looked up to find her cousin Neji staring at her.

"You're going to greet the local leaders of Konohagakure now," Neji whispered, placing a sturdy hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you." Hinata flashed a small, and extremely rare, smile at the powerful man who had been like a brother to her for years. Neji bowed quickly and stepped back into his proper place among her entourage.

"Shikamaru Nara, of the Nara clan."

Hinata smiled at the brown-haired young man in front of her and extended her arm. He took her gloved hand limply.

"Thank you, Mr. Nara. Your attendance is appreciated."

He wordlessly nodded. Hinata dropped his hand and bowed. His eyes glazed over with boredom, Shikamaru Nara lazily bowed back, his movements fluid and relaxed. Hinata gazed after him for a moment before pasting another peaceful smile on her face.

"Shino Aburame, of the Aburame clan."

"Thank you, Mr. Aburame. Your attendance is appreciated." Hinata offered her hand and Shino Aburame grasped it firmly.

"Thank you for your invitation," he said, almost coldly. His face was obscured by dark colored glasses and an unusually high collar. Hinata shivered a bit as he bent low to brush a kiss on the top of her hand. There was a small black birthmark behind his ear that resembled a beetle. She quickly waved Mr. Aburame away to turn to the next member of the receiving line.

The announcer's voice droned on as Hinata continued to smile and murmur niceties to the Konohagakure elite. The pressure on her feet had reached an unbearable level, and Hinata found herself inwardly cursing her dresser for convincing her to buy the shoes. As she was introduced to Jiraiya, the Toad Mountain Sage, and one of the three legendary sages, she took advantage of her large, floor-length skirts to ease her left foot from her tiny shoe. Breathing out a sigh of relief, she grinned outwardly at Jiraiya. He rewarded her with a lascivious smirk and a glance at her chest. Disgusted, Hinata unwittingly stepped back, forgetting that she had removed one of her shoes, and stumbled backwards. Neji quickly sprinted forward to catch her.

"Are you alright, sister?" Neji's hand clamped down on her arm.

Hinata nodded tightly. "I'm fine, thank you brother." She shuffled her feet a bit, trying desperately to slip her foot back into her shoe. Unfortunately, when she tripped, she had accidentally kicked it forward to the edge of her broad skirts. Neji nodded, holding her arm for a bit longer before bowing to the next dignitary and returning to the back of the dais.

Sighing quietly, Hinata held out her hand to a young blonde woman waiting patiently in front of her.

"The Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure, Lady Tsunade." Hinata quickly masked her shock as she bowed to the woman in front of her. Usually political leaders were older, often with literal battle scars from the constant squabbling that existed between the hidden villages. The woman who stood in front of Hinata was flawless and young, despite the fact that Hinata knew her to be much older.

"You have a lovely village, Lady Tsunade."

Lady Tsunade nodded at the vague comment and shook Hinata's hand firmly, looking her up and down with a wry smile. Hinata's content smile faltered as she continued her attempt to regain her shoe.

"I look forward to our meeting tomorrow, Princess Hyuuga."

Hinata replied with an awkward bow. Her toes were curled around the heel of her discarded shoe and she was desperately trying to pull it backwards towards the center of her skirts.

As Lady Tsunade walked away from the dais, Neji stepped forward to take Hinata's arm and lead her to sit. Ordinarily, Hinata would have whispered, 'Finally,' to Neji and eagerly sat down for a moment before standing up again to lead off the first dance; however, now she fervently wished for another person to pop up in the receiving line to give her more time.

Hinata reluctantly took Neji's arm, keeping her smile in place as she watched her skirts move over her missing shoe. She felt a shudder from Neji and looked up. His light-colored eyes were blank as always, but she could tell by the shaking of his shoulders that he was suppressing the urge to laugh. Hinata kept her own eyes blank, as the chair in the middle of the dais was brilliantly lit by the dripping crystal chandelier. She resisted her own urge to squint or cover her eyes.

"Only four more hours to go," she whispered.

**A/N:** My writing style is usually complex to a fault, and I know I went overboard in this chapter, and probably will continue for a few more Hinata-centric chapters. Also, you may have noticed I chose not to use the common honorifics determining a character's relationship or station in life (Hinata-hime, Yamanaka-san). However, I tried to keep the meaning of these honorifics present. Hopefully this doesn't make my story harder to read.


	2. Panic! Hinata's Sleepy Escape

I do not own 'Naruto' or 'Roman Holiday' and I mean no disrespect by using characters and/or situations from either.

**Konohagakure Holiday**

"This is your bedroom, your highness. I hope you find it adequate." The dark-haired hotel maid opened an unnaturally large and heavy door, beckoning the princess in. The room, decorated in a very ornate way, gleamed with polish.

"T-thank you, Ms. Furukawa." Realizing that her speech had slipped, Hinata blushed a bit, bowing to the tiny woman and allowing her to shut the door, leaving Hinata alone for the first time that day. The weary princess leaned against the door, sliding gracefully down to the floor with her back pressed up against the hardwood.

"I must be t-tired," she whispered to the room. "I r-rarely stutter anymore."

Looking up at the small table near the door, Hinata saw a local newspaper rolled up next to a decanter of water and a set of crystal champagne flutes. She reached up slowly, keeping her back against the door, as if she could bar people from entering, and grasped the newspaper, unrolling it with her other hand.

"Hyuuga Princess of the Land of Fire Visits Konohagakure…," she read aloud. There was a dated picture of her alongside her younger sister Hanabi and Neji to the left of the headline.

"T-two weeks into her Land of Fire tour and the spunky princess shows no signs of exhaustion, attending multiple functions in her honor…"

Hinata continued to read, grimacing at the world 'spunky.' She quickly lost interest and her eyes darted below the fold to a picture of a very handsome blond man grinning ear-to-ear and giving a thumbs up at the camera. He was flanked by the very young-looking Lady Tsunade, and a man Hinata recognized from the ball as one of her most powerful ninja. She couldn't remember his name; however, she recognized his facial mask and the jaunty angle that his Konohagakure forehead protector leaned across his face. Her interest piqued, Hinata read on.

"After much d-deliberation, Lady Tsunade has chosen a successor to her position of Hokage. Naruto Uzumaki has long been a p-prominent ninja, serving Konohagakure on a number of S-class missions…"

Hinata frowned, staring at the photograph of the young man. She couldn't remember him from the ball, and knew that they had not been introduced in the receiving line. There must have been a reason why one of the most important figures in the village had not been dragged out to meet her. She smiled wryly.

"I wonder w-why he wasn't there," she said, suddenly wistful as she traced her fingers over the photograph. Hinata was positive that they hadn't met. She would surely remember the most handsome man she had ever seen. Blushing, Hinata quickly scanned the article for clues.

Suddenly, she found herself shoved from behind and deposited on the welcome mat. She gave a surprised 'eep!' and threw the newspaper in the air, scattering the pages all over the carpet.

"Your highness!"

"Sister!"

Two voices yelled at once from behind her. Still blushing, Hinata stood and turned around to face Tenten, who was standing in the entryway looking confused. Neji peered out from behind her, his usual stoic expression on his face.

"Your highness? What were you doing in the doorway?"

"Um…I was…r-reading the paper." Hinata shrunk backwards towards the guilded four-poster bed that stood in the center of the room.

"On the floor?" Tenten sounded incredulous.

Hinata clenched the front page of the newspaper in her hand, suddenly angry. If she wanted to read the newspaper on the floor, she was perfectly entitled to. She was struck by the wish that Neji and Tenten had never entered her room and disrupted her privacy.

"I'm sorry, T-tenten," she said softly, bowing to her.

"It doesn't really matter," Tenten replied. "I was just a little confused. There's not really anything to apologize for."

Hinata bowed again and turned to clamber into the gigantic bed. Perhaps if she made it appear that she was going to sleep, they would leave her alone with her thoughts. The soft feather mattress immediately plied to her body, squashing down and welcoming her in. Hinata sunk down into the mounds of blankets and sheets with a long yawn. Neji and Tenten followed her, stopping at her bedside.

"I thought we would briefly go over your itinerary," Tenten said, pulling out a clipboard. Neji nodded, looking at Hinata to make sure that she was paying attention.

"Thank you," Hinata said.

"Tomorrow morning we start bright and early with breakfast at seven and a press conference at eight," Tenten began.

"No thank you," Hinata said.

Tenten paused and looked at her as if she wasn't sure what to do.

"Hinata was joking," Neji stated. "Please continue, Tenten."

"Yes please," Hinata said.

"Okay, after the press conference, you and Neji will go into a meeting with the Hokage, Lady Tsunade and her named successor Naruto Uzumaki…"

Hinata's mind latched on to the name, immediately recognizing it as belonging to the good-looking man in the newspaper. She nodded vaguely at Tenten, staring vacantly past her.

"Your highness? Are you listening?"

"Sister?" Neji's voice sounded a bit concerned.

Hinata shook her head. "I'm sorry, please continue."

"Alright. After noon, you will be doing a tour of the academy, meeting a few select classes, and giving lectures. Perhaps you should tell them about your own experiences training in the Hyuuga compound. I'm sure that they would be interested. Talk about how you believe that youth is the future of Konohagakure and the entire Land of Fire."

"No thank you."

"Well, you don't have to, your highness, it was just a suggestion," Tenten replied, sounding a bit hurt.

"Pleased to meet you. You have a lovely village. How do you do? Yes, please. And thank you. No thank you." Hinata began to spout pleasantries over Tenten, her voice becoming louder and louder. She felt a burning pressure in the pit of her stomach and tears were leaking out of the corners of her eyes, but she didn't know why. Hinata's breath became shallow and rapid.

"I CAN'T do it!" she finally screamed, thrashing around underneath the comforter. Clenching her fists in the pillow she pressed it to her face and screamed, leaving it wet with saliva. Her arms were quickly pulled apart and restrained by Neji, but Hinata continued to writhe and thrash, sobbing and crying.

"Sister, stop," Neji demanded. "You are a Hyuuga." If Hinata had opened her eyes, she would have seen identical ones on Neji, full of worry and concern. Instead, she squeezed her eyes shut and rolled her head back and forth violently.

"Her chakra is spiking dangerously," Neji whispered to Tenten. Tenten nodded. Her hands shaking from nerves, Tenten pulled out a small vial of powder and, crossing the room, emptied it into the decanter of water. She filled one of the champagne flutes with the liquid and quickly ran back to Hinata's bedside.

"Your highness," Tenten begged. "Please calm down. Drink some water." Hinata stopped thrashing for a moment and looked past Neji at Tenten.

"Call me Hinata," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "Please."

"I…of course, your, I mean, Hinata. Now please, drink some water. I'm sure you'll feel better once you have some water and there's a small amount of medicine in it to help you sleep." Tenten offered the glass to Hinata, who graciously accepted, drinking it down in one gulp.

Breathing in deeply, Hinata sat up in bed and looked at both Neji and Tenten.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me," she said, her voice wavering at its usual pitch.

"It's okay," Tenten said, grasping one of the princess's hands tentatively in her own. "I'm just glad you're back to yourself."

Hinata nodded and smiled, squeezing Tenten's hand lightly before sinking back into the bed with a yawn.

"I am rather tired," Hinata said sheepishly. "I'm sure I will be perfectly fine tomorrow morning. You said that breakfast was at seven?"

"Yes, your high-Hinata," Tenten quickly corrected.

"Goodnight then, Tenten. Goodnight, brother. I'll see you both, tomorrow morning." Neji and Tenten nodded, turning away from her bedside and walking towards the exit.

"Don't worry about the lights. I believe I will leave them on for a bit," Hinata called after them. She couldn't help but giggle quietly to herself as she watched Neji take Tenten's hand when the reached the doorway, thinking that Hinata wasn't watching. Neji looked back quickly and Hinata ducked her head under the covers, keeping her eyes hidden until Neji, satisfied that his cousin had not seen his brief display of affection, shut the door firmly behind him.

Hinata pulled back the covers and quietly rose from bed, her feet softly padding along the plush carpet. When she reached the large window facing out into the hotel courtyard, she drew back the heavy velvet curtains with a flourish, gazing out into the soft, flickering lights of the town. A strain of upbeat, comforting music wafted up through Hinata's window and she began to sway in time. After a few minutes she stopped, frozen for a moment, before dashing to her dresser and pulling out a comfortable khaki jacket and dark cropped pants. Usually serving as her training clothes, they were the only items of traditional Hyuuga clothing that she didn't mind.

As she opened the window, a cool breeze ruffled Hinata's dark hair. She yawned briefly before jumping out of the window and landing softly onto the grass. In the darkness, she quickly activated her byakugan. Although it was nowhere near as strong as her father would have liked, it allowed her to plot a course across the gardens unseen by the security guards. She kept her chakra at a low, but very tightly controlled level, and slipped quickly into a waiting laundry van. As she settled in to a pile of white towels, Hinata yawned and leaned her head in her hands.

"I must b-be more tired than I p-previously thought," she whispered.

**A/N:** Poor Hinata, she just wants to be left alone for a while. This chapter was really hard to write, mainly because Audrey Hepburn does such a damn good job portraying the exhaustion and vulnerability during the freak-out. Although I think it fits in well with Hinata's character (bottling up that many feelings will eventually lead to a meltdown at some point) it didn't make the scene any easier to write.

Re: Naruto's newspaper photograph, the thumbs up is NOT the 'nice guy pose!' ;)

I guess there will be a bit of Neji/Ten in here too. I'm a big fan of that pairing.

Good question Hinata, where is Naruto? Maybe coming up in chapter three?


	3. Midnight Poetry Session on Hokage Mtn

I still don't own the rights to 'Naruto' or 'Roman Holiday.' There are spoilers regarding Naruto's parentage in this chapter.

**Konohagakure Holiday**

"And that, my dear friends, is how you play the game."

The rest of the party seated around the table groaned, as the white-haired legendary sage reached his arms over the center of the table and dramatically pulled a large pile of money towards him, cackling.

"Double 'r nothing," came a cry from the woman on his right. Her speech was somewhat slurred and her space was littered with empty sake bottles.

"My dear Lady Hokage." Jiraiya's words were drippingly sweet; however the intelligent observer would be able to detect a hint of real concern, cemented by years of friendship. "You hardly seem in the condition to continue our little game."

"Maybe Jiraiya is right, ma'am, after all, you do have that meeting with the princess tomorrow," her personal assistant and right-hand woman interjected. There was a small snort of agreement from the small pig the woman carried in her arms. Tsunade glared at Shizune.

"I know my responsibilities," she said simply before leaning towards Jiraiya seductively. "C'mon, one more game."

Jiraiya watched as the hokage thrust her chest forward carelessly so her ample breasts were barely covered by her green robe. He blinked, momentarily startled, before raising his eyebrows in appreciation and letting out a whistle.

"You must be very desperate to try that trick with me, Tsunade," he said huskily, with the slightest hints of disappointment and regret in his voice.

"Awww, c'mon," a bright and youthful voice echoed across the table. It came from a smiling blond-haired man, his cheeks slightly flushed from drink. "If granny Tsunade wants to throw her money at us, who are we to complain?"

"Call me 'granny' one more time, Naruto, and I'll unname you as my successor," the drunken woman replied, as she leaned back in her chair with a sigh, draining another jug of sake. He laughed in reply and grinned brightly.

"Whatever you say, granny! You don't have the guts!"

Tsunade slammed her empty jug on the table, sending mismatching game pieces and cards flying. She leaned dangerously towards Naruto now, all aims at seduction gone, although Jiraiya continued to eye his childhood friend's form with interest. Narrowing her eyes, she stared at her successor for a long moment. Naruto stared back, still grinning widely as the rest of the players held their breaths.

Suddenly, Tsunade and Naruto burst simultaneously into laughter, falling backwards in their chairs.

"I think that signals the end of a spectacular evening," the masked man next to Naruto said dryly, looking at his former charge rolling on the floor in hysterics. Kakashi Hatake gazed humorlessly at Naruto, lamenting the fact that the gambling and drinking hadn't lasted a bit longer. He had been hoping to win enough money to buy the latest installment of 'Come Come Paradise.' Kakashi then glared slightly at Jiraiya, angry that the best-selling author would never give him a discount.

Jiraiya laughed good-naturedly. "It was a lot of fun to be together like this for once. And to think that we have some stupid princess to thank." He reached his hand down and bent over to help Tsunade up.

"I don't need your help, old man," she griped, swatting his hand away with a slap.

"Yes that may be true, my darling Tsunade," he grunted as he hefted her off of the floor by her elbow. "But did you ever stop to think that you might want it?" He added softly, hoping that it would reach her ears only.

"Ughh, the princess," Naruto groaned as he pulled himself up, rubbing the lump on the back of his head slowly. "Crap, I'd better get to bed." He stood up, leaving his hair matted and disheveled. "I don't know how you do it," he said with a hint of admiration in his voice as he looked over his shoulder at Tsunade. She was leaning against Jiraiya, her eyes closed.

"Well, g'night everyone. See ya tomorrow!" Naruto was answered by a round of half-hearted waves and a large snore from the sleeping Might Guy.

Naruto whistled low as he meandered slowly down the street. Relaxed and comfortable, he decided to pay a visit to his favorite thinking spot.

"I wonder what I'll have to say to the princess," he thought aloud. "Hopefully it won't be too boring. I definitely should have taken granny Tsunade's advice about appearances and paperwork." Naruto grinned as he turned to make the final ascent. Becoming the next hokage had been his dream and he was more than happy to fulfill any aspect of the job, including its more tedious ones. He continued to whistle as he recognized the familiar slope of the Fourth's head. Naruto was so completely lost in his own thoughts that he failed to notice a small tree branch in front of him and promptly tripped.

"Wow, dad, your head is a lot harder than it looks!" Naruto exclaimed, scratching his own head roughly. As he stood up, dusting off his orange t-shirt, he turned to notice that the tree branch he had tripped over was, in fact, a sleeping woman.

"I'm so sorry!" he instantly yelled at her. He was slightly louder than he should have been, due to the combination of shock and intoxication. The woman stirred, but didn't respond, rolling over to reveal a very pretty, and very pale, face.

"Hello?" Naruto asked quizzically. The woman smiled and slowly opened her eyes. They were a very unique washed-out color and Naruto, unusually speechless, cocked his head to the side and stared at her.

"How do you do?" she said very slowly. Her voice was low and slurred.

"I..uh…fine?" Naruto managed to string together before walking across the stone until he was nearly standing on top of her. She sat up, blinking laboriously and waved limply in his direction, patting the ground next to her.

"You may sit down," she said.

"Oh, I may, hunh?" Naruto grinned at her speech and superior attitude and quickly sat down next to her. She was probably some crazy drunk from the ball's after party, although he didn't recognize her as one of Konohagakure's ninja or townspeople. He looked back at her amicably and found himself caught by her heavily-lidden lavender eyes.

"And if along with these should come, the man I held as half divine, should strike a sudden hand in mine, and ask a thousand things of home, and I should tell him all my pain, and how my life had drooped of late, and marvel what possessed my brain, and I perceived no touch of change but found him all in all the same, I should not find it to be strange," the woman mumbled, nearly incoherent. Her long, dark hair fell forward in front of her face and Naruto wrenched his eyes from hers.

"Obviously well read," he began. She nodded in response.

"It is my favorite poem."

"Fairly well-dressed," he continued, observing the obvious quality of her clothes. Despite her disheveled state, she appeared very well-taken care of. He began to revise his opinion that she was just another crazy drunk.

"Where do you live?" he asked pointedly, beginning to worry for the woman's welfare.

"In the Land of Fire," she replied dreamily.

"Then again, first impressions are lasting ones," Naruto muttered to himself as he stood up. Even if she was crazy, she must have a home somewhere. At the very least, maybe he could bring her to the hospital.

"C'mon," he said, holding his hand out to the woman. "I'll walk you home."

"Should strike a sudden hand in mine, and ask a thousand things…," she trailed off, staring at his hand in hers.

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said, blushing as he lifted her up from the ground. "Let's get you home."

"It's my very favorite poem, you know."

"Is it really?"

**A/N**: The poem that Hinata recites is a stanza from 'In Memoriam A.H.H.' by Tennyson. She is actually misquoting it because of her drugged state. This is the section from the poem in full:

And if along with these should come  
The man I held as half-divine;  
Should strike a sudden hand in mine,  
And ask a thousand things of home;

And I should tell him all my pain,  
And how my life had droop'd of late,  
And he should sorrow o'er my state  
And marvel what possess'd my brain;

And I perceived no touch of change,  
No hint of death in all his frame,  
But found him all in all the same,  
I should not feel it to be strange.

It's actually an amazing poem, but VERY long.

Yes, Naruto knows that the Fourth Hokage is his late father.

Let me know what you guys think. I thought it was a pretty meh chapter, and I'll probably rewrite it after I get the main plot underway.


	4. Pervert Naruto? The 6th's Sleepover

I still don't own 'Roman Holiday' or 'Naruto.' There will be a few exact quotes from the movie in this chapter due to the fact that I love them! A list will be provided at the end of this chapter and no copyright infringement or disrespect is intended.

**Konohagakure Holiday**

It only took a few steps down the side of the monument for Naruto to regret his charitable decision.

"Where do you live," he asked one more time, catching the woman's arm in his own as she stumbled down in a crumbling slide of red pebbles.

"In the Land of the Flame," she said gesturing her hands grandly.

Naruto sighed and resisted the urge to push her down the rest of the way.

"I mean your home. Your house!" Naruto knew that he was shouting out of frustration; however, he didn't care, and she seemed annoyingly unfazed by his obvious anger.

"I-I…I d-don't have one."

"That's stupid, everyone has a house!"

Naruto immediately regretted yelling at her as he watched her face fall. She clenched her fists and looked him in the eye intensely before dropping her gaze to the ground.

"W-well I d-don't." Her voice was soft and cultured.

He shook his head and gently took her arm, guiding her down the rest of the way in silence. Naruto could tell by her voice and nature that she came from money.

"It's okay! I'll just take you to the hospital! Sakura at least will know what to do with you!"

She stopped suddenly and dug her heels into the red sandstone.

"I c-can't." She shook her head vigorously, gripping his arm with a strength that he wouldn't have imagined that she possessed. "No one c-can know! Please, I'll b-be in s-s-so much t-trouble!" Her stuttering became worse as her voice grew higher and higher in pitch laced with panic.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Naruto yelled, yanking her arm. The last thing he needed was the girl to freak out and cause a scene. Truthfully, it wasn't the most opportune moment for him either. Both Tsunade and Kakashi had been furious that he had missed the Princess's function tonight, and would be even more furious if they saw him with a strange drunk girl causing a scene in a local hospital. Naruto shuddered when he thought of what Sakura would think. He shuddered harder and winced as he thought of what Sakura might do.

"Nevermind then! Discreet all the way. You can count on me!" He grinned at the young woman and she smiled back drowsily.

"Now what to do with you?" Naruto squinted his eyes and tapped his chin in thought. "I know! You can stay on my couch!"

Inspired by his brilliant, but discreet idea, and suddenly paranoid that someone would see them, he quickly dragged the girl down the rest of the monument into the darkened town.

It turned out to be a very easy mission for Naruto, as the woman had fallen asleep multiple times along the way, causing him to become impatient and fling her over his back for the rest of the trip. He leaned her against the doorway of his apartment as he searched his pockets for his keys.

"Are we t-there yet?"

Naruto shook her shoulders gently and her pale eyes opened halfway.

"We're here, but are you sure there's not someplace I can take you?"

"No, I c-can't go back t-there t-tonight."

He shrugged and quickly pulled her into his apartment before anyone could see him with the woman. She quickly sagged against the wall of the hallway in exhaustion as he ran into the apartment chatting loudly.

"Don't mind the mess 'cause I really haven't had the chance to clean with miss-I mean, ummm, my job." Naruto couldn't remember whether he'd told her that he was a ninja or not, but he assumed the less information that she learned about him, the better. Hopefully by the next day she'd remember where she came from.

"Is this the elevator," she asked regally, looking around his living space.

"No, you idiot! This is my apartment!"

She giggled, once again unfazed by his anger.

"That must have been some party you went to tonight," he said as he dragged her in from the hallway, shielding her view from the empty cups of instant ramen that littered his living room.

"Yes, some party," she said airily. Opening her eyes suddenly she looked at Naruto with intensity. He gulped, thinking that she might have recognized him.

"B-but you weren't there. Why weren't you t-there?"

"I, uh, I didn't feel like going. Now c'mon," he said, grabbing her arm and dragging her towards the couch. "You stay here, I'll go grab you some blankets."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled an extra comforter out of his small bedroom closet. She hadn't seemed to recognize him, although her eyes had shown a glimmer of memory when she had said that she hadn't seen him at whatever party she had come from.

"I don't think I know her…she doesn't look familiar anyways," he said to himself as he turned to find the young woman collapsed onto his bed.

"Oh no! No no no no! Get off!" His face filled with a heated blush. "Get out of my bed!"

He grabbed onto her feet none-too-gently and pulled her off, carrying her into the living area. After depositing her, with a flourish, onto the couch, he threw a comforter at her, along with a set of old pajamas decorated with cartoon frogs.

"Here, take these."

The dark-haired woman lifted up the pajama shirt and eyed it with sleepy amusement.

"Do you have a silk nightgown with rosebuds?"

"No, you stupid girl, they're pajamas for you to sleep in! And don't ruin them! They're kind of my favorite ones…" Naruto's voice trailed off at the end of sentence, slightly embarrassed. She merely laughed at his irritation.

"You shouldn't speak to me that way." Her laughter tinkled merrily and Naruto felt a bit of irritation wash away. At least she was amused instead of angry.

She cocked her head to the side, studying the pajamas for another moment before unbuttoning her jacket and sloughing it off onto the couch.

"Gah! Wait 'til I leave to do that, will you!" Naruto blushed furiously. Despite becoming the progeny of Jiraiya, Naruto's experience with naked woman was very limited.

"I've never been alone with a man before," she said, a bit sadly, almost echoing Naruto's thoughts. "Even with my shirt on. With my shirt off, it is most unusual."

"Well that's nice to know," Naruto grumbled under his breath, still blushing hotly. "Jumping into strange beds you crazy, drunken woman."

He looked back at her to make sure that he hadn't heard him and found her already collapsed on the couch, sound asleep. Naruto smiled in spite of himself and pulled the blanket over her gently before walking into his bedroom and turning out the light.

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review this story: Originalatorian, loveslavender, and especially uzukun7. Thank you for your comments, I'm sorry I didn't write it better, but where Naruto was during the ball will be revealed later. Thank you all again!

The direct quotes are: "Is this the elevator?" In the original movie, Joe Bradley replied angrily, "This is my ROOM!"

"Do you have a silk nightgown with rosebuds?" To which Joe Bradley replies, "I haven't worn a nightgown in years!" in the original.

"I've never been alone with a man before, even with my dress on. With my dress off it's most unusual." I changed 'dress' to 'shirt' in order to fit Hinata's attire.

You'll also notice many exclamation points after Naruto ends a sentence. This is my English translation of 'dattebayo!' which actually only adds a sort of excited punctuation to the end of a sentence. (Not that I have a real problem with 'believe it!' but I think this way disrupts the flow of Naruto's speech less.)


	5. The Mystery Woman's Hidden Identity

I still don't own 'Naruto' or 'Roman Holiday.' I know, bummer right? Enjoy the story!

**Konohagakure Holiday**

Naruto awoke with a start, as he often did, laying on his floor tangled in a bundle of knotted sheets. Twitching a bit, he grinned to himself and shook his head furiously, brushing away the cobwebs of whatever nightmare had pitched him from the comfort of his bed and onto the much colder floor.

"No use worrying about it!"

He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair, blinking the sleep from his eyes. The familiar comfort of his somewhat messy room greeted him as he stood up and gazed foggily at his clock. The bright numbers stared back at him, reading eleven.

"Was there something I was supposed to do today?"

Naruto often talked to himself. It was a small remnant of his childhood still ingrained into his personality. If no one would talk to him, then he could always talk things out with himself. He scrunched up his face as he continued to think aloud.

"There was something! If only I could remember what it was…I don't think that it was training with the pervert." Naruto smiled as he remembered the marathon card game the night before and Jiraiya's increasingly not-so-subtle approach to his feelings for Tsunade.

"Granny Tsunade! The princess! Shit!" His scream echoed through his bedroom and out into the sunny streets of Konohagakure. Frantically, he rifled through his clothing until he found what he was looking for, clean boxer shorts, before pulling on his garish orange pants that clashed nicely with his jounin vest and blond hair.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!!!" He continued to yell as he hastily tied on his forehead protector.

"I was supposed to be meeting with the princess two hours ago! How could I have slept until 11 o'clock!? Gahhh! Granny Tsunade's going to kill me!"

Naruto burst into the living room shouting to himself, and promptly fell on the floor with a second, much louder, shout at the sight of a strange woman sleeping on his couch. He sat there for a moment, gaping stupidly at the shiny dark blue hair and the soft rise and fall of her chest.

"Ummm…g'morning," Naruto mumbled as he awkwardly stood up, making sure to stay as far from the woman as possible. "So, are you awake or what?"

He paused to wait for her answer, and then creeped slowly closer to her until he was standing over her. Hesistantly, he reached over and tapped her on the shoulder, flinching and jumping back with apprehension. The only response to his tap was a soft snore and her continued rhythmic breathing.

"So it wasn't a dream…," he whispered, cocking his head to the side and studying her briefly. She was obviously very well-taken care of, despite her disheveled appearance.

"Probably not a ninja…," he began thinking out loud again, tapping his chin with his index finger.

Suddenly, Naruto remembered that he was still late for his meeting with the Fifth Hokage, and grabbed an instant cup of ramen from the kitchen to go.

"Sorry!" He called back to the woman, who had shown no signs of acknowledgement, or life for that matter. "I'll deal with you later!"

He burst through his front door, and quickly began to run at a chakra-enhanced speed towards the Hokage's office.

"Hey Shizune!" Naruto greeted the Fifth's friend and assistant with a cheery smile.

"Hello, Naruto," she responded somewhat coolly, but without any particular anger towards him.

Naruto took the time to lean in one of the chairs outside of Tsunade's office and gobble down the rest of his cold ramen breakfast.

"Blecchh!!! I should have just gone to Ichiraku's! But then I wouldn't have gotten here as fast…" Naruto spoke aloud to himself more than anyone else, and jumped when Shizune began to answer.

"Or maybe you should wake up on time."

"Awww, c'mon! I'm not that late am I?"

Shizune rolled her eyes and shook her head at him before rewarding Naruto with a rare, genuine smile.

"Weren't you supposed to be here at nine," she asked simply.

Naruto shrugged and tossed his ramen cup into Shizune's garbage can. "So how is she right now anyway?" He asked it quietly, as if Tsunade had been pressing a glass to her door in order to hear his conversation.

Shizune shrugged before turning back to her paperwork. "No worse than any other hangover she's had. How are you?" Before Naruto could answer, Tsunade's voice called out from behind the door.

"Shizune! Is that Naruto!? Tell him to get his ass in here now!"

"I thought you said she was fine," Naruto whispered loudly.

"I said she wasn't any worse off than she usually is," she corrected Naruto. "Just get it over with. You know she's going to yell at you no matter what."

"Yeah, yeah."

Naruto turned from Shizune's desk and paused before the door to Tsunade's office, bracing himself for the earful he was about to receive, before slowly pushing the door open. He slipped into the hokage's office quickly in an attempt to be as silent as possible.

"Good morning, Naruto," Tsunade spoke from behind her desk. All of the shades were pulled down over the windows, giving the room a very ominous look. The Fifth became a shadowy figure in the darkness. As Naruto walked, almost tiptoeing, towards her desk, she stood up abruptly.

"So, wasn't there somewhere you were supposed to be this morning?" She winced as she spoke, holding her head in her hands.

"Uh…yeah, about that…heh, heh." Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Is this a joke to you, Naruto?"

Naruto blanched. He had expected her to be angry and was unnerved by her irritated calm.

"N-o," he said very slowly.

"Well then get your act together!" Tsunade winced again as her voice rose in volume and rubbed her temples. "Being hokage isn't about learning new jutsu or fighting everyone to prove your worth. It's paperwork and tedious meetings, why the hell do you think I ran in the opposite direction when you and Jiraiya tracked me down?"

"I…" Naruto trailed off, clenching his fists. "I told you I couldn't come to the ball because I had something else to do. And I'm sorry about this morning, I, um, I got a little tied up last night."

Tsunade smiled and leaned forward. "So, who is she? Just how drunk were you last night?"

"It's not like that at ALL!!"

"Please don't shout," Tsunade cringed and sat back down in her chair holding her palm over her forehead. "Is it Sakura? Or did you just pick up some random girl last night?"

"I told you it's nothing like that!" Naruto blushed. In a way, he had picked up a random girl. "A crazy one," he mumbled to himself.

"Oh? So it's not Sakura? Well just be careful, Naruto, we can't have you running all over the place with different women."

"I'm not!" Naruto glared at her, noticing the playful smile that had appeared on her face.

"Well," she continued breezily, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. "You did train for years with Jiraiya. Who knows what he taught you?"

"Don't even compare me to that pervert! I'm nothing like him!"

Tsunade shrugged. "Whatever you say," she sighed softly, letting a shadow of sadness flicker across her face before standing up again, handing a file to Naruto.

"Here, this is all the information on Princess Hinata. We need to find some way of gaining an informal audience with her, in order to reach some sort of agreement…" As Tsunade continued to talk about the advantages of a close alliance with the Princess, Naruto drowned her words out and focused on the first part of what she had said.

"Wait," he interrupted. "So you didn't meet with the Princess this morning?"

Tsunade's eye twitched in irritation at being interrupted. "Do you even pay attention as you walk outside? It's all over the news!"

Naruto shrugged. "I just wanted to get here as soon as possible. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Here. Read this," she ordered, shoving another paper at the future Hokage.

"Her royal highness, Princess Hinata, following her ball the previous evening, was put to bed with a high fever and has cancelled all appointments for today. Sources close to her inform us that…," Naruto trailed off as he skimmed down the page to a picture of the princess. It was a very familiar pale face with lavender eyes and navy blue hair.

"This is the Princess?"

"Yes, I know, Naruto, she's very pretty," Tsunade said, taking in his shocked reaction. "I'm sure you're very sad you couldn't meet her today. I know Jiraiya would have been." She couldn't help taking this last dig at Naruto, and was surprised that instead of reacting to her statement, he stepped forward to her desk and slammed the newspaper down on top of it.

"Please don't do that," she hissed. "You're so loud already."

"How much, Granny? How much do you want to bet that I can find this girl and negotiate with her?"

Tsunade laughed blatantly in his face before politely covering her mouth to hide her mirth.

"You didn't even show up on time for today's scheduled meeting. How are you going to find her?"

"How much," he stated firmly, still pressing the paper with the Princess's picture on it to her desktop. 

"Fine, you're on!" Tsunade smirked at Naruto. "I want double of all that I lost to you last night."

"I'll take it!" Naruto firmly shook her hand and then proceeded to rush out of the room before Tsunade could ask any more questions. She shook her head after him and smiled.

**A/N:** Sorry for those who were hoping for some more fantastic Naruto/Hinata interaction, but don't worry, it's coming up in the next chapter, which is almost finished!

I've been avoiding using honorifics, trying to find a way to write around them in English and still get the same meaning. (Kind of like a little writing challenge to myself!) However I'm finding it increasingly hard to not include them, and am considering going back and editing the previous chapters to add them. What do you all think? Please review and let me know!


	6. Waking Up? You Spent the Night with Me!

So I still don't own 'Naruto,' but I'm going to admit that if I did, there would be a lot more focus on the title character, his growth, and his quest to become the greatest Hokage Konoha has ever seen, instead of certain plots about a revengeful dark-haired emo kid.

In other news, I don't own 'Roman Holiday' either.

This chapter is dedicated to uzukun7, for his love of continuity. I'm going somewhere with all of this, I promise, thanks for keeping me on my toes.

**Konohagakure Holiday**

Naruto breathlessly stood in the entryway of his living room, beaming at the sight of a dark-haired princess still asleep on his couch. He had run frantically across town from the Hokage's office and now collapsed in his own doorway, more out of relief than exhaustion.

"Okay, now what?"

He grabbed a fistful of his hair, tugging it roughly, and let out a long sigh. If he was a brilliant strategist like Shikamaru, he could have planned out exactly how he would trap her into negotiating with him.

"Blechhh, I've never been good at strategy. Plus then I'd have to be content to stare at clouds all day when there's plenty of good training to do!"

Letting go of his hair, Naruto stood up abruptly and strode into the kitchen.

"No use thinking on an empty stomach!" He cheerily threw a battered iron teapot onto his stove and began to boil water.

"Now what flavor to choose from? I had miso, chicken, and beef yesterday…"

As he rifled through a cabinet full of ramen, Naruto heard a soft sigh from the other room. He quickly dropped the packet of noodles, crunching them into his tile floor as he jumped up to check on the princess.

He found her sitting up, curled into a ball against the back of his couch and holding his comforter up over her body like a shield.

"Hello!" he said brightly, popping into the room. She shrank back in response.

"Well, erm, that's a better reaction than I expected. I mean, you could have screamed or something."

She simply looked at him, and Naruto stared back, surprised. She didn't seem terrified, as he had expected. Instead, something like relief flashed briefly through her eyes before a serene mask dropped over her entire face.

"S-so," she began timidly. Naruto smiled as kindly as he could at her and she blushed hotly. Taking a deep breath, she steeled her nerves and attempted to take what control she could of her situation. "Would you kindly inform me, where am I?"

"This is my apartment, or as you called it last night, the elevator," Naruto gestured grandly around his small living quarters. She blushed again.

"I'm sorry t-to have insulted you."

Naruto shrugged, scratching the back of his head in nervous habit. He found himself slightly put in his place by her overly polite speech.

"S-so," she clenched her fists in his comforter, concentrating and controlling her stutter. "Did you force me to come here?"

"No! I swear I would never do anything like that! I'm not some creep like Pervy Sage! I could never do that!"

She smiled nervously at his discomfort, not really understanding who 'Pervy Sage' was. Looking up from her hands, knotted into his blankets, she looked into his bright blue eyes and was somewhat shocked at what she saw. Used to negotiating with politicians and clan leaders, their eyes were always clouded and dishonest. His were clear and open. She tilted her head slightly in study. He seemed very familiar, although she couldn't recall having met him before.

"Once again," she finally said, continuing to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry to have offended you."

"Nah, it's fine, I mean. I did bring you here…but you were, I mean…" He trailed off, trying to find a nicer way of saying 'stinking drunk.'

She gasped, covering her mouth politely as she remembered the sleeping agent Tenten had given her before she had escaped.

"I'm so sorry to have b-been…indisposed. I-I suffer from insomnia so I am prescribed medication to help control it." It was a lie close enough to the truth that she didn't mind telling it as much.

"Ohh, I get it! So that's why you were so out of it! I thought you were just really wasted!"

The Princess looked shocked for a moment, before covering her mouth with her hand. She shoulders began to shake up and down. Naruto stood back awkwardly, unsure of what to do. He had little experience with crying women, and didn't want to offend someone who he was trying to trap into negotiations. Stepping forward to comfort her, he quickly jumped as she threw her head back and laughed uncontrollably.

"You have a very brash way of stating things," she said finally, as her pretty laughter faded into quiet giggles.

"Yeah, I, sorry."

"Don't worry," she said, awarding him a genuine smile, "It's quite refreshing actually."

"Thanks!"

An uncomfortable silence settled over the room for a few minutes. Naruto was unsure of how to proceed. He needed some way to get her to stay with him for the rest of the day while he came up with a plan.

"S-so," she finally spoke. "I spent the night here, alone?"

In a flash, Naruto saw his way in. "If you don't count me, then yes." He furrowed his brow and lowered the pitch of his voice to sound suave and mysterious, watching hesitantly to see if she would fall for his trick. Behind his back he crossed his fingers for luck, cursing his terrible deception skills. A shadow of doubt passed over her face, causing Naruto to grin.

"So I've s-spent the night here, with you?"

"Ummm…not really." Naruto felt bad lying outright to her. Despite the fact that she was a stuck-up princess, he didn't want to make her feel terrible about herself. "But I guess some people could take it like that."

She nodded slowly and then smiled, extending her hand and looking him directly in the eyes. "How do you do?"

Thrown off guard, Naruto couldn't help smiling back and engulfing her small hand in his large callused one. "Pleased to meet ya! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

**A/N:** Short, I know! However, I wanted to write the next part of the exchange more from Hinata's point of view. Also for those who are trying to catch continuity errors, Hinata will remember who Naruto is eventually, I didn't think it was that far of a stretch that she wouldn't remember him right off considering that she A: only knows his name from a newspaper article, and B: was very tired and then drugged when she did meet him in person.

Thank you to all of my lovely reviewers: Originalatorian, loveslavender and uzukun7, and to newcomers Chronostorm and mori3. It is always great to hear feedback whether it be good, bad or ugly. My beta, as fantastic as he is (thank you Wash!), and I sometimes miss glaringly obvious things.


	7. A Straight Line Between the Two Points

And we're back! I still don't own Naruto or anything else in his universe, that's right, Naruto's universe, not Sasuke's.

I also don't own the plot of 'Roman Holiday' either. If you enjoy how this story is going, you should definitely rent that movie. It's pretty amazing.

Thank you again to all of the loyal readers and reviewers. It always feels really good to get feedback!

**Konohagakure Holiday**

"Please to meet ya! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

Something about the name caught in her mind as his grasped her hand firmly and shook it. Hinata briefly remembered the newspaper article and blushed as the good-looking young man stood in front of her, smiling broadly.

"Um…I'm…Hina. You may call me Hina. I'm pleased to meet you," Hinata replied, continuing to shake his hand.

"Yeah! You don't know how glad I am to meet you!"

Hinata blushed, allowing her hands to drop into her lap. His voice sounded sincere, but she shrank away nervously. He sounded excited to meet her, so perhaps he knew who she really was. She looked back up and he was still smiling at her, chuckling softly and squinting his eyes. Hinata then noticed the strange markings on his face like whiskers.

"Um…you may sit down," she finally said, scooting over on the couch and gesturing for him to sit. The young man ran his fingers through his hair and laughed wholeheartedly before nodding and sitting down.

"Thanks a lot! I think I will. You're pretty funny, you know."

Hinata blushed again and looked down at her fingers, which were nervously tangling themselves in his comforter.

"Um…I'm sorry to be such an inconvenience to you."

"It's really no problem! You were actually pretty fun!"

The man smiled at her, still laughing a bit. Inwardly, Hinata blanched, but she tried to keep her normal emotionless mask in place. She was sure that she had been nothing but an annoyance to the young man, which left her wondering why, if he had no idea of who she was, he had allowed her to stay in his apartment.

She nodded and continued to twist her fingers around themselves.

"S-so," she began. "Mr. Uzumaki, would it be okay if I, um…could I trouble you for the use of your bathtub?"

The man looked at her, puzzled, before breaking out into another wide grin.

"Sorry! I didn't understand you for a sec. But it's fine if you want to take a bath or whatever!"

Hinata stood and bowed to him slightly, awaiting directions. It took another moment for Naruto to realize what she was waiting for.

"Oh, sorry!"

Naruto sprung up off of the couch and pointed through the doorway into his bedroom.

"And you can just call me Naruto if you want. Anyway, the bathroom's right through there, and I'll go grab you some towels!"

She nodded, gathering her clothes, and waited for him to bring her the towels before walking into the bathroom. Hinata grimaced slightly at the small size of it, but took heart in the fact that it was neat and tidy, despite the paint curling away from the wooden baseboards and the small dark flecks of mildew on the ceiling. She had never been into a man's bathroom before and now marveled at how bare and open it was. A small window was opened wide, allowing the breeze to ruffle the yellowed curtains.

"Here you go! I brought a few, in case, I dunno, you need more than one or something."

Hinata nodded at Naruto, blushing again as she accepted the towels. Inwardly she frowned, wondering why she suddenly was unable to keep her facial features under control. Chalking it up to stress, and being put into an unknown situation, she sighed softly and bowed to him.

"Thank you. Um…you have a very nice bathroom."

He laughed and scratched behind his head again.

"Thanks! Well, I guess I'll see you when you're done!"

With a casual wave, he walked out of the tiny bathroom, still laughing, and shut the door behind him.

Hinata sighed very slowly and sank to the floor. She sat there for a few seconds, tracing the tile outlines lightly with her fingertips. Running through last night in her mind, she found that she couldn't remember anything after climbing out of the hotel window.

"That was probably when the drug began to take effect," she whispered to herself, rising up off of the floor and turning the water on.

She slowly slid out of Naruto's pajamas, giggling at the small pictures of cartoon frogs that were stamped all over them. It was very hard to believe that this brash young man had been named the next village leader.

Closing her eyes, she stepped into the bathtub and sank into the warm water. Steam had gathered onto the glossy tiles, and Hinata found herself tracing her fingers along the tile, drawing pictures in the steam.

"So I snuck out here," she began, drawing an 'x' onto one of the tiles, watching the water condense and slide back down into the bathwater.

"And Mr. Uzumaki found me here."

Hinata drew another 'x' to the right of the first, leaving a large foggy space in between.

He was an odd person, Naruto Uzumaki. She still wondered why he hadn't been at the ball, and was even more intrigued by the fact that he had taken her in, seemingly without knowing who she really was.

"So all I need to know is what happened…here."

She pressed her thumb against the tile rigidly, drawing a slow line between the two points. It squeaked quietly and she smiled, lifting her thumb up from the tile and sinking back down into the bath.

Holding her breath, Hinata submerged herself underneath the water. She opened her eyes and exhaled, watching her breath bubble up to the surface. Hinata knew that the longer she stayed away from the Hyuuga, and her duties as a princess, the more trouble she would be in when she returned.

She shuddered under the water, imagining her father's face when he found out that she had run away, even if it was only one night. In spite of all this, Hinata couldn't help wanting to explore the village, possibly seeing it from a completely different perspective.

She sat up suddenly, bursting through the surface of the water and taking a deep breath.

"This will be a day for me," she exclaimed, hitting the surface of the water with her hand.

"Hey! Are you okay in there!"

Hinata jumped at the sound of a sharp knock on the bathroom door. She blushed nervously.

"Yeah, I'm f-fine," she said. Hinata shook her head in frustration. Normally she had no problem controlling her stutter.

"I'm fine," she repeated herself a bit more loudly.

"Sorry! I heard some splashing and I, uh, I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

"Thank you for your concern. I'll be finished in a moment."

Hinata was beet red, almost purple from embarrassment. She quickly rose from the bath and wrapped herself in one of his towels, pleasantly surprised at its softness. Wrapping her hair up into a second towel, she quickly dried herself off and pulled her clothes on.

**A/N:** JustWriter2, I'm sorry. I'm not sure what you mean by explain the bet. The night before, Naruto played cards/dice and drank with other Leaf jounin and Tsunade. He won a bunch of money from her. She is betting him double the amount that he won from her (which can be assumed is a large amount, her being the 'Legendary Sucker' and all) that he can meet up with the princess somehow and trick her into negotiating with him on the Leaf Village's behalf. These negotiations were a routine part of the princess's visit, however, since she was sick and cancelled her appointments, Tsunade didn't get to meet with her and take advantage of their meeting. I'm sorry, I guess I didn't explain this as well as I should have. Hopefully that clears things up for you. Thanks for reviewing!


	8. Youth Misunderstood! A Parting of Ways

Previously: Hinata Hyuuga, Princess of the Land of Fire, on her multi-village tour, has a nervous breakdown and skips out on her duties while drugged up on sleeping meds. She is found by Sixth Hokage-to-be, Naruto Uzumaki and ends up passing out at his apartment. Upon realizing who she is, he bets the current Hokage, the Legendary Sucker herself, he can singlehandedly negotiate with the princess, while she, recognizing him from a newspaper photo, thinks he's pretty cute. Neither of them realizes that they each know who the other one is! And scene!

Still don't own Naruto, still don't own Roman Holiday. It's sad, but true. No disrespect is meant to either of these franchises.

**Konohagakure Holiday**

"Thank you for your concern. I'll be finished in a moment."

Naruto made a childish face at her overly polite speech as he nodded and walked away from the closed bathroom door.

"At least she doesn't seem snotty. Even though she talks a bit weird."

He shrugged to himself and walked back into his kitchen, rediscovering the dry noodles that he had dropped onto the floor with a loud crunch underneath his foot. Dismayed, he reached down to brush the crumbs off of his now dirty socks.

"Aw, damn it! I can't believe I wasted a whole package of noodles."

Naruto lifted up the half-empty crushed package, dangling in front of his face as he contemplated for several minutes whether he should throw it in the garbage, or try to salvage it.

"Shit," he finally said, reluctantly tossing it into the trash can.

"Oh well, I guess I can just use the flavor packet with a plain box of noodles. Nah! But it won't be the same as regular ramen!"

"Um…thank you for the use of your shower," he heard a soft voice say.

Naruto quickly turned to see the princess standing in the doorway. He blushed a brilliant shade of red, hoping that she hadn't heard him swear.

"I folded your pajamas and placed them on your bed. Thank you very much for allowing me to wear them." She bowed and blushed, her face matching his own.

"Hehe, it's no problem really, like I said before. You weren't that bad!"

The princess flushed hotly again and stared at her socks.

"I'm sorry to be an inconvenience. I know of very few men who would allow a young woman they barely know to spend a night in their apartment." She pushed her fingers together nervously and continued to blush.

"Well, few men with honorable intentions. Thank you."

The princess finally looked up at his face with a nervous grin. Naruto found himself speechless for a few moments. Her lavender eyes had a captivating and trusting clarity to them as her diplomacy mask briefly melted away from her face. She smiled sunnily at him. It made Naruto feel like a lowlife. He dragged his gaze away from her face, visibly cringing at his own dishonesty.

"Yeah, I, erm, thanks. I hate perverts," he said lamely.

She giggled, covering her hand with her mouth politely. He quickly joined her laughing at his own expense, nervously scratching behind his head.

"I suppose I hate them too," she replied, settling into a somewhat conversational tone.

"Yeah, they're um, bad."

Naruto knew that he sounded like an idiot. It seemed as soon as he tried to come up with a way to engage her in a meaningful conversation, he found himself tongue-tied. Used to saying and doing whatever he felt like, whenever he felt like saying or doing it, he hated withholding information. Sneaking around the main purpose just rubbed him the wrong way.

"Sheesh, how does Granny Tsunade handle this stuff?"

"Um…you mean the Fifth Hokage Tsunade? I don't understand," the princess replied, looking at Naruto with confusion.

"Is she really your grandmother?"

Inwardly, Naruto swore and wracked his brain for a way to salvage the conversation.

"Uh, no…," he said, trailing off to buy himself more time. "She's just a really close childhood friend."

It wasn't really a lie, but Naruto felt his mouth smirk upwards like it always did when he was being less than truthful.

"Oh," she said, a bit taken aback by his lack of respect.

The conversation between them stalled. Even the air felt heavy and stagnant to Naruto as his mind screamed with a way to trick her into spending the day with him. He could almost hear the nine-tailed fox laughing at him inside his head.

"So…I should return to my family."

"So, why don't you spend the day with me?"

She stared at him for a moment, shocked. Naruto fought the urge to hang his head. He knew instantly that he had been too forward, but he just couldn't think of a way to sneak around the situation.

"No thank you," she declined. "My family is likely to be worried about where I went last night."

Naruto nodded. "I understand," he said.

Short of tying her to his bedpost with rope or pinning her to the wall with kunai, he couldn't think of any way to make her stay and spend time with him. He bowed to her slowly and ushered her towards his apartment door.

As he opened it, bright sunlight flooded into the doorway. It was a beautiful day outside and Naruto could see various townspeople rushing by on daily errands, their moods heightened by the sun. He laughed quietly as he saw the green blurs of Guy and Lee weaving through the crowd in what was sure to be one of their traditional 500 laps around the village. Suddenly paranoid that someone might recognize him and see him with a strange girl, or worse, recognize her as Princess Hinata, he shrunk back into the sharp shadow of his front door.

"Um…I'm terribly sorry, but could I trouble you for one last time?"

She smiled prettily at him. Backlit by the sun, her hair took on a royal blue hue.

"Yes!"

He blurted his response too quickly, hoping that her request would give him an opportunity to spend a few more hours with her.

"Um…I have no money. I was wondering if you would loan me some. I'll send you the money as soon as I return home."

She blushed and glued her eyes to her socks again. Naruto shrugged. For a princess, she didn't possess much self-confidence, or backbone.

"Oh. I mean, yeah! It's no problem! I'll even take you to your home if you want!"

Naruto said this eagerly, half-hoping that she would admit to who she was so he didn't have to walk on eggshells any more.

"That won't be necessarily," she replied swiftly, sending him another guarded smile.

"My family will be…It's better if I go home alone."

A pained shadow passed over her translucent eyes, and Naruto felt a pang of sympathy for her without really knowing why.

"Okay," he said, his voice uncharacteristically soft. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a worn-looking frog change purse. The princess covered her mouth with her hand again, stifling a giggle.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up."

He smiled brightly at her and reached for her hands. Clasping them gently, he dropped a large amount of coins into her palms.

"T-thank you," she stammered, caught off guard by the physical contact. She wondered why it seemed so much more intimate than the many routine kisses on the hand that she had received at the ball.

"I promise I will pay you back."

"Don't even worry about it!"

Naruto grinned widely at her, making his whisker-like marks seem more pronounced.

"Um…well…thank you for all of your kindness again."

Bowing deeply to him, she tucked the money into her pocket and blushed when she found her right hand grasped tightly in his.

"I'm sure I'll see you again," Naruto said. He was still desperately trying to come up with some way to make her stay with him.

"G-goodbye."

She slipped her fingers from his and gracefully walked down the steps, blending almost immediately into the bustling crowd. Naruto sighed. His bet with Granny Tsunade was all but lost.

"Unless…," he mused aloud.

He quickly ran back into his apartment and grabbed his keys from a small end table. With a loud jangling noise, Naruto shoved them into his pocket along with his frog change purse and ran out the door, shutting it firmly behind him. He had only taken a maximum of ten steps from his stairs before he slammed blindly into another person.

"Oof! I'm so sorry! I didn't watch were I was going and I…Lee? Guy?"

Naruto interrupted his own apology when he recognized the victims of his carelessness.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"Ah! Forgive us, Naruto. We were just on our 254th lap when we passed by your residence and noticed that you were not alone. Where is the beautiful young woman who was here a moment ago?" Lee spoke animatedly as he quickly rose off of the ground, dusting the dirt from his green jumpsuit.

"Yes, we were most enthused to see you exercising your youthfulness! But answer me this. Did I see correctly when you paid the woman for being with you? If this is true, then it is most dishonorable!" Might Guy looked down at Naruto sternly.

"No!!!" Naruto screamed. Passers by stopped briefly to look in his direction before shaking their heads, with either affection or disgust, before moving along.

"It was nothing like that, I swear! Why does everyone always assume that I'm a pervert!?"

Naruto took off down the street, anxious to escape from Lee and Guy, and also hoping to catch up with the princess, so he could track her and contemplate his next move. The two, nearly identical men watched as their future leader raced away.

"He will truly make a wonderful Hokage," Guy said, grinning and giving a thumbs up to no one in particular.

"Yes! Naruto is truly in the springtime of his youth!"

**A/N:** About Naruto's frequent blushes, remember that he is VERY uncomfortable. It's not that he is blinded by Hinata's beauty, thinks she's 'teh pretty,' and wants to have sex with her (although he definitely finds her attractive). He has to trick her into making a deal with him using sneaky and subtle tactics, something that he has little to no experience with. It also clashes with his 'act now, think later' mentality.

I actually really like Rock Lee a lot, as a character and not just as comic relief, so I was kind of sad to use him for that exact purpose, but he fit in so perfectly!

Hinata's name can loosely be translated as 'patch of sunlight.' I wanted to give her and the sun a small moment there.

Thank you for my loyal pack of reviewers: uzukun7, mori3, and Chronostorm! Also thanks to the new reviewers JustWriter2 and destiny's sweet melody. I'm glad you are all enjoying this story.


	9. Scissors go snip! Hinata on her own

Previously: Things are still amazingly awkward between Naruto and Hinata. Naruto is thrown off-guard because he has to use lies and stealth to trick Hinata and win the bet. Hinata is thrown off-guard because she spent the night in the future Hokage's apartment. Rock Lee and Might Guy are thrown off-guard when they see Naruto giving Hinata money and mistake her for a 'lady of the evening.' Hinata leaves, Naruto chases after her, and Lee and Guy ponder his youthfulness.

Don't own 'Naruto,' don't own 'Roman Holiday,' but you all already knew that you smart people! There will be a few exact movie quotes in here. They will be cited, as they have been in previous chapters, at the bottom of this page.

**Konohagakure Holiday**

"It must be fun to live in a place like this."

Hinata smiled brightly as she walked through the busy streets of Konohagakure. She couldn't remember where her hotel was; however she was content to wander until she found it.

Glancing down at the handful of coins in her palm, she giggled cheerfully and put them in her pocket. If she still couldn't find the hotel in a bit, she could certainly hire a rickshaw to take her there. Hinata looked up, shielding her eyes against the sun, to see the silhouettes of young ninja training, jumping from rooftop to rooftop in what seemed like a race.

She watched them a moment more, absentmindedly stretching. Her own training had been very different and stylized to her royal bloodline. Hinata's smile fell and her eyes dulled remembering the hours upon hours of merciless sparring with her father followed by, when he had tired of her failure, a rotating set of lesser clan members, all who possessed skills far superior to her own.

"Father, stop! Please!"

Her sister Hanabi yelled tearfully, stepping out from the porch shadows.

"Don't come any closer Hanabi."

Hiashi's voice was full of bitterness and contempt as he watched his firstborn daughter struggle to breathe. Blood dribbled from her mouth, dripping slowly onto the dirt, and her eyes were visibly strained from trying to sustain the Byakugan.

"F-f-f-father."

"Until you improve, you are no daughter of mine. I've had enough of your laziness."

The Hyuuga King turned away and walked back towards the palace, stopping to grasp Hanabi by the hand to drag her into the house.

"Be sure to not end up like your sister, Hanabi."

Hinata clenched her fists and shook her head, clearing the memory from her thoughts. She would be stronger, someday. Then maybe her father would accept her eventual ascent to the throne. Currently, Hinata knew that the only thing holding him back from naming Hanabi his heir was the Hyuuga tradition that the firstborn must take the throne. Hinata sighed. Her father had never been one to go against any tradition.

Spinning around in a silly attempt to recapture her good mood, she sniffed the air, smelling a myriad of different scents wafting from various food vendors. Her mouth watered as she looked down at the various fried confections that were suddenly at her disposal.

"Can I help you miss?" the takoyaki vendor directly in front of her asked.

Hinata blushed and her hand crept into her pocket, fingers closing over the handful of coins that Naruto Uzumaki had given her.

"You know," the vendor continued, smiling. "You look exactly like that…"

"T-thank you for your consideration sir Imustbegoingbye!"

She bowed deeply and mumbled an apology out quickly before running down the street. Spotting a narrow alleyway, Hinata darted into it and then quickly stopped, suspiciously peering out into the busier main street. She resisted the urge to use her Byakugan to scan the area, knowing that someone could possibly pick up on her sudden spike in chakra. After a moment, she breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against a nearby shop front to catch her breath.

"Hey! Do you mind?"

Hinata gasped and jumped away from the window, startled and shocked at the shop owner's tone of voice.

"Please forgive me, I didn't notice that I was blocking your shop entrance." Hinata bowed politely.

"What do I look like, the Fifth?" The older woman raised an eyebrow, regarding Hinata with amusement.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Thank you for your apology," the storeowner said, giving an exaggerated, sarcastic bow.

"But save your high-falutin' language for someone else." She turned away from Hinata, grumbling and shaking her head.

Hinata blushed, frozen in front of the store window, and looked up at her reflection. It was murky with dirt and thumbprints, but she could still see a princess looking back at her. Raising her hands to her cheeks, she tried sucking them in and furrowing her eyebrows.

"Try to look less…snobby," she ordered herself in a whisper. "I have to blend in with the rest of the villagers."

"Did you say something?"

The older woman who owned the shop was looking at her oddly. Hinata blushed again and tried to wave in what she hoped was a casual manner.

"Oh it's nothing. I said nothing!"

She giggled in a girlish way, trying to act more like a vapid academy schoolgirl. The older woman simply went back to her sweeping, muttering under her breath and shaking her head again.

Hinata sighed. This was going to be a lot harder than she had previously thought. Turning to the side, she continued to examine herself in the window.

"My eyes…and hair…"

Picking up a lock of her dark hair, she regarded it with newfound interest, turning it through her fingers and watching as the sunlight glanced off, giving it a brilliant blue hue.

"That's the answer!"

She said this rather loudly, and with a hasty bow to the shopkeeper, Hinata walked confidently out of the alleyway and back into the side streets of Konohagakure. Retracing her steps, she found herself staring down the town's main thoroughfare.

"There has to be one around her somewhere," she mumbled, whipping her head from left to right, searching both sides of the street for a hair salon.

"I'd like to have my hair cut please!"

Hinata burst into the first hair salon that she spotted, already embracing her role as a self-centered academy student. She grinned and giggled prettily, trying to look as charming as possible.

"I like your attitude!"

A young man sauntered out from behind the counter and shook her hand.

"I'm pleased to meet you, miss…?"

"Hina…erm…Hina...," Hinata trailed off, quickly rifling through her brain for a last name.

"Hina Yamada."

She smiled brightly and returned his handshake. He was very forward, but then again, she had been the one to rush into his shop and demand a haircut.

The man smiled, unfazed by Hinata's indecision over her own name. It had been a very boring day, with few customers, and he was always very pleased to talk to a pretty girl.

"Well then, pleased to meet you, Miss Yamada."

He dragged her over to the nearest chair, never having let go of her hand from the initial handshake, and sat her down in front of an immaculate mirror.

"You want a nice and easy trim, I suppose," he said as he wrapped a smock over her, tucking her into the chair.

"No, I'd like it all off, please."

The young man looked shocked and spun the chair around so she was facing him.

"Are you sure?"

He seemed deadly serious and Hinata smiled at his grave expression.

"All off!" She raised her hand up to her head and mimicked a pair of scissors chopping her hair off at the chin.

"All off…"

As the scissors sliced cleanly through, Hinata took a deep breath. Her hand returned to its comfortable home inside her pocket, absentmindedly jangling the coins. Now, her actions could not be undone. She pushed the image of her father passing the throne to Hanabi to the back of her mind and focused on how much fun she could have exploring the village, and avoiding her return to the hotel.

Hinata giggled again, this time not playacting as she had before.

"Maybe I am a self-centered schoolgirl after all," she whispered to herself, grinning broadly.

**A/N:** Not much happens in this chapter, but it's nice to get some back story on Hinata, right? She's one of my favorite characters, so I want to really flesh out the conflict between her own insecurities and her family obligations. The whole haircutting scene is pretty cute in the movie so I wanted to leave it in this story, despite the fact that it doesn't really impact the plot that much.

Thank you for the many reviews received for the previous chapter! uzukun7, mori3, and destiny's sweet melody, your comments and critiques are appreciated as always, and thank you to newcomer Vanivan. Don't give away too much about the ending of the movie!

"It must be fun to live in a place like this," is a direct quote from the movie, said by Princess Ann.

Self-centered academy schoolgirl, see: Sakura, first season. Speaking of Sakura, she'll be coming up soon in the next chapter! (And no, I'm not a Sakura-hater.)


	10. A Fated Reunion

Naruto and Roman Holiday don't belong to me. If you decide to sue me; however, I'll warn you that between saving for grad school and bills, I've got maybe $20 on me, a few manga books, and lots of Red Sox and Packers memorabilia. It's not worth the lawyers fees for that measly amount of stuff is it?

**Konohagakure Holiday**

Naruto plastered his back against a wall and peered around the corner suspiciously, immediately visible to anyone passing. Luckily, the princess didn't seem to possess any sort of ninja prowess at all or she certainly would have been able to detect him by now.

"Good morning, Naruto!"

He jumped back from his position and turned to face the smiling scroll shop keeper. Naruto grinned back with some confusion. The woman had never gone out of her way to be nice to him before, even when he had become a fairly regular customer.

"Are you doing some sort of training with Konohomaru today? I won't tell him that I helped you, but I think he's hiding over that way."

The older woman pointed somewhere beyond the wall to Naruto's left.

"Uh…thanks old lady, but actually I was looking for someone. Have you seen a weird-looking girl around here?"

The woman laughed and shook her head.

"No. No one weird-looking today, Naruto. Or, I'm sorry, should I have called you Mr. Uzumaki?'

Naruto blushed and shook his head.

"No! I mean, I'm still the same old me! Sorry, I gotta go!"

He rapidly bowed before running down the street, back towards the heart of the village. Naruto still couldn't adjust to the new way that people were treating him.

"Ever since Granny Tsunade named me the next Hokage…"

Naruto frowned as he continued to run. Thinking about becoming the next leader of Konohagakure usually made him happy. He quickly slowed down and began to look around the busiest part of the village, shaking the cobwebs from his head violently.

"No use worrying about that now!"

Pumping his fist in the air, Naruto grinned.

"There is no way that I'm going to lose this bet!"

He darted quickly through the crowds, scanning them for any sign of the missing princess.

"I'll just think of this as training. Pervy Sage always says I need work on my tracking skills."

He flattened himself against the nearest wall, trying to blend in with the shadows. Unfortunately, a large tuft of yellow hair jutted up and out of the building's long shadow, glinting in the afternoon sunlight.

"Hey boss," a bright young voice echoed from behind him. "What are you doing hiding behind this wall?"

"Uh…"

Naruto found himself at a rare loss for words as he turned to face Konohomaru.

"I'm looking for someone."

Konohomaru nodded, and then joined Naruto in positioning himself against the wall, his brown hair and less conspicuous appearance blending in perfectly with the shadow of the building. Naruto resisted the urge to ask how he did it so well, not wanted to admit that he was bad at something to his younger charge.

"Have you seen a girl, kind of weird-looking with blue hair?"

"Yeah, right over there, boss."

Konohomaru pointed across the street to a small woman exiting a hair salon. Her hair was now cut boyishly short, and the two long bangs that had previously framed her face were gone.

"Thanks, Konohomaru," Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, resisting the urge to ask how Konohomaru had found her so easily. Now that he knew where she was, he'd be able to track her a lot easier.

"Why are you following that girl?"

Konohomaru looked up at Naruto with unconcealed interest.

"Oh I know! You're going to use her to help perfect the sexy jutsu, right? She's kind of a weird pick, boss. I mean, that jacket hides everything!"

Naruto couldn't put his finger on why, but he suddenly was annoyed at the way his younger comrade was talking about the princess.

"Probably just because I took care of her last night, or something," Naruto mumbled.

It hadn't occurred to him until now, that he'd never really had a girl spend the night at his apartment before. Konohomaru watched as Naruto launched into a small conversation with himself. He was used to Naruto talking to no one, so he merely shrugged it off and continued to watch as the girl stopped at a nearby shaved ice vendor.

"Hey boss, she's headed over that way!"

He elbowed Naruto, interrupting him from his thoughts.

"What? Hey! That's the money I gave her to get home, stupid girl!"

Naruto growled and dashed out from the shadows, forgetting that he was supposed to be tracking her without being noticed.

"I gotta go Konohomaru! Let's play hide and seek some other time, okay," he yelled back to the boy as he took off down the street.

Slowing down to tail her openly, but hopefully far enough behind her that she didn't notice, Naruto watched as she meandered down the street, taking in the sights of the village.

"Doesn't she get to do this stuff all the time? I mean, she's a princess. She should have people to do whatever she wants," he mused aloud.

The princess stopped in front of a small flower stand, bowing politely to the young woman manning the counter. The young woman smiled back, holding up a small sprig of lavender to the princess's face and nodding enthusiastically. Naruto strained his ears to hear their conversation.

"Please forgive me, I…I don't have any money."

The princess gestured to her pockets and shrugged, blushing prettily. The florist simply bowed and handed her the small spray.

"Thank you very much," the princess said, bowing deeply.

Naruto was enthralled. The way the princess had politely declined, but still managed to charm the young florist had been effortless.

"If I was as good as she was, I would never have let her leave my apartment this morning!"

She turned in his direction, twisting the flower in her hand and smiling serenely. Naruto panicked and ducked behind a nearby trash can, watching as she walked past him, throwing her empty paper shaved ice cone into it. He waited to emerge from his hiding spot until she had sat down on a nearby bench. She was lost in looking at the flower with a fascinated expression.

"Fancy meeting you here," Naruto said as he strolled towards her, brushing bits of garbage from his vest.

The princess looked up abruptly from the lavender, swiftly glancing from side to side, frightened. Her expression softened when she saw him.

"Oh, it's you."

"Yeah, I come here often."

Naruto clenched his fists at the half-truth, despising that he had to lie to her. Ichiraku's was just across the street, keeping what he had said from being an out-and-out lie. However, usually he would be training at this time, if he wasn't off on a mission, or sorting through Tsunade's paperwork.

"Honestly, Granny Tsunade probably just wanted someone to do all of her dirty work," he exclaimed under his breath.

"Hn?"

"Oh, nothing!"

Naruto ruffled his hair with his fingers, grinning widely at her. Up close, he noticed that her face was no longer obstructed by her long bangs.

"Sorry! I've kinda gotten into the habit of talking to myself."

"Oh… That's understandable."

He frowned. It was the exact vague answer that one could expect from a practiced politician. Naruto cocked his head to the side and studied her. She didn't appear to understand, after all, she barely knew him.

"So why are you still out and about," Naruto asked, opting to change the subject as he sat down on the bench beside her.

"I figured you'd be long gone by now!"

He quickly began mentally kicking himself for mentioning that he had been thinking about her at all. Luckily, she seemed too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice.

After a somewhat awkward silence, the princess smiled softly, looking down at her hands which were in the process of shredding the sprig of lavender.

"The truth is…the truth is…umm…I ran away last night. From…my school."

Naruto quickly exhaled, not realizing that he had been holding his breath, waiting to see if she was about to admit her identity.

"Oh…," he quickly recovered. "Um…did you hate it there or something?"

She laughed quietly, shaking her head. Naruto couldn't help but smile. Her laugh had become somewhat of a relaxing sound to him.

"No, not really."

"Awww…c'mon! School is so boring! I mean, you waste all that time there sitting around and reading about cool stuff when you could be actually out there doing it. I used to get so mad!"

The princess laughed again, louder this time, and politely covered her mouth with her hand.

"I actually only planned to be away for a few hours, just to see the village," she said, pausing to look around the busy plaza wistfully.

"But I…the sleeping medication was…potent."

"I'll say! You were really out of it!"

She blushed and stared at her hands again. The small spray of lavender was completely torn to pieces and scattered across her lap. A very light fragrance wafted upward from the destroyed flower.

"I'm sorry…I uh…I shouldn't have said it that way. I'm not very good with…well, words, I guess, but it's more than that."

Naruto shook his head and blushed, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"It's okay," she said. "Your honesty is actually rather…r-refreshing."

She looked up at him and Naruto froze. For the briefest of moments, she allowed her icy exterior to shatter, and smiled at him timidly. Her eyes were clear enough to match his, and he was shocked at the loneliness and pain he thought he recognized.

"You're…you're just like…," he uncharacteristically whispered.

"I should be heading back. There are sure to be many people worried about me."

The princess spoke abruptly, drowning out Naruto's words as she brushed the bits of lavender from her jacket and stood up.

"Wait, you can't leave yet!"

She looked up at him blankly. Naruto shook his head and grinned back at her. He knew that probably sounded stupid, and oddly desperate, but this was possibly his last chance to trick her into spending more time with him.

"Uh…you haven't even gotten a chance to look around! You know, see the sights! Isn't that why you ran away in the first place?"

He beamed proudly at her. There was no way she would pass up seeing the town if that's why she had run away. Even if she had been lying about the reason why she left her family, he had nearly caught her in that lie.

"This is brilliant," he said under his breath.

"I-I guess I could…"

Naruto knew he had caught her off guard as she paused, gazing off into the distance and shifting her weight back and forth from foot to foot.

"C'mon! You should jump at the chance," he pleaded, inwardly grimacing at how heavy-handed he sounded.

"There are a few things that I've always wanted to do…"

She looked into his eyes, allowing her mask to slip again as she grinned shyly up at him.

"Like…," Naruto prodded.

"Oh you know."

She looked down at her feet and then back out across the village.

"Many things. Things that, most likely, are very boring to you."

"Like getting your hair cut? Or buying a shaved ice?"

"Well, yes. Those things and…," she trailed off again, smiling to herself.

"I could eat at an actual ramen stand…or just look at different shops…sunbathe…go on a long walk through the woods…"

As she spoke her eyes lit up. It nearly distracted Naruto from realizing that the princess wanted to do one of his favorite things.

"…It probably doesn't sound all that fun to you."

"No!"

Naruto yelled, grabbing immediate attention from the passing crowds of people. She looked around nervously, shocked by his sudden outburst and the looks he was now attracting.

"I mean, yes!"

He corrected himself in a quieter tone of voice, stepping conspicuously in front of her and glaring at the few people who had stopped to see what the commotion was about. They quickly dissipated with curious glances back at the couple. Naruto ran his fingers through his hair and grinned widely at her.

"I meant that, no, it does sound fun," he finally said.

"Please don't take offense," she began slowly. "But don't you have to work?"

Naruto laughed loudly.

"Not today!"

"So you would like to spend your day off…accompanying me to do all of the frivolous things that I have always wanted to do?"

He nodded in reply, his nerves growing at her skeptical expression.

"Umm…why would you want to do that?"

Naruto quickly grabbed her hand, ignoring the slight shudder that ran through her body, and began dragging her towards Ichiraku's.

"Are you kidding?! There's no way that I'm going to pass up a chance to eat ramen! You obviously don't know me at all!"

**A/N:** Sorry I haven't updated in a while! My roommate and I have been mooching wireless internet off of our neighbors and we suddenly couldn't connect to it anymore sometime mid last week. (I guess that's what we get for being too cheap to pay for it.) So the updates will take slightly longer from now on, until my internet starts working again, or until I can get to a computer with internet.

Since this story is obviously AU, I've also played around with the ages a bit, making Konohomaru about the same age as in the anime (pre timeskip), and Naruto older (late teens/early twenties).

There are no direct quotes from the movie in this section; however some of it was paraphrased from the original dialogue.


	11. Ramen and a HeartPounding First Date!

Naruto doesn't belong to me. (sniff) Roman Holiday doesn't belong to me either. (sniff) And my story doesn't hold a candle to either of them, (sob) but please read and review anyway!

In other news…there are a few quotes from the movie in this chapter. They are cited at the bottom in the author's notes.

**Konohagakure Holiday**

"Are you kidding? There's no way I'm going to pass up the chance to eat ramen! You obviously don't know me at all!"

Hinata frowned at his words. Obviously she didn't know him; however she was suddenly upset at his flip comment. A gnawing realization began pushing its way forward in her mind. This strange man, who she had known for less than twenty-four hours, had managed to become closer to her than most, if not any, people in her life.

She breathed in sharply. The stark reality of this thought struck her harder than if Naruto had slapped her.

"Hey are you okay?"

The warm pressure of Naruto's hand lingered on hers as he stopped in front of the nearby ramen stand she had passed earlier. He was now facing her, peering down in concern.

"You look really pale."

As his unbelievably blue eyes stared at her, Hinata found herself dizzy, and suddenly had to resist the urge not to faint. Perhaps she was hungrier than she had previously thought.

"N-no. I'm simply very hungry."

His eyes crinkled in response as a grin spread across his face, stretching out the whisker-like birthmarks on each cheek. Hinata couldn't help smiling back. His enthusiasm and openness were infectious.

"Then what are we standing around here for? There's delicious ramen to be eaten!"

Hinata again felt the pressure of his hand as he dragged her in underneath the awning and gestured for her to sit wherever she wanted. Blushing, she chose a seat at the end of the bar. It was odd how the tedious mannerisms and gestures, that she was used to in her daily life as a princess, took on a much deeper meaning from someone who had no idea of her stature.

"T-thank you," she said, resisting the urge to quickly curtsy as Naruto pulled her stool out for her. She supposed that curtsying wasn't something that normal schoolgirls would do on a regular basis.

"Nah, it's no problem."

Naruto looked a bit embarrassed himself as he slid into the seat next to her, although Hinata couldn't imagine why.

"Why Naruto, there you are! I was wondering when you'd stop by today."

"You know me too well, old man!"

Hinata looked on, incredulous that the man behind the counter, presumably the ramen shop owner, would let Naruto get away with calling him something that insulting.

"Of course! You're one of my best customers."

The grinning older man turned to Hinata, who blushed appropriately and looked down at her hands in her lap, trying her best to look vapid and empty-headed.

"And who is this pretty young lady with you? I'm never seen her here before. In fact, the only girl I've ever seen you with is Sakura."

A faint tinge appeared on Naruto's cheeks as he grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Hinata had been expecting this little quirk. He seemed to scratch the back of his head whenever he was nervous, or stuck with what to say or how to act.

"This is my friend…erm…Hina! She's visiting Konohagakure for a few days."

He looked at Hinata and she hastily nodded to confirm his statement.

"So I'm showing her around!"

The ramen proprietor smiled at Hinata and mouthed 'I'm so sorry he dragged you here,' before winking. Laughter bubbled up before Hinata could cover her mouth politely.

"Hey! I saw that! She wanted to come here!"

Naruto gave Hinata a pleading look and she found herself inexplicably wanting to please him.

"He's right," she said, falling into a relaxed, teasing speech pattern.

"I did request to come here. After all, he told me that it was the best ramen bar in Konohagakure!"

Hinata inwardly smiled as the ramen shop owner blushed and grinned broadly at her compliment. Perhaps interacting with people wouldn't be as hard as she had previously thought.

"So what'll it be this time, Naruto?"

Naruto was staring at her incredulously. She hesitated for a minute before gulping and gently nudging him with her elbow.

"Order," she said softly.

"Uh, yeah! I'll have the chicken, pork, miso and…I guess that's it for now, plus whatever she's having!"

Hinata studied the menu poster behind the bar, slowly breathing in all of the delicious smells.

"I'll have miso, please."

She leaned forward in as polite of a bow as she could manage while seated. The proprietor smiled and bowed slightly back. She grinned at the small bow. No one was treating her as if she was breakable, or holding her at arm's length with niceties.

"Hey, Naruto, you could learn a thing or two about manners from this one!"

A booming voice echoed behind the pair and Hinata turned to see a tall man in a green vest, she recognized this as a symbol of a higher ranking ninja, with brown hair and a large scar across his face.

"Iruka!"

Hinata watched the two quickly embrace. It was obvious that they held each other in high regard.

"Shut up! What would you know about manners?" Naruto said as he nodded towards the empty seat on the other side of him.

"Obviously more than you, talking to a superior like that."

"Not for long, Iruka! Soon I'll be your superior!"

The brown-haired academy teacher shook his head in mock disgust. Hinata was captivated by the glimmer of pride that flashed across his eyes when he looked at Naruto. She suddenly remembered that Naruto had just been named the Sixth Hokage of the village. He must be an amazing ninja in order to have earned that title.

The ramen shop owner quickly returned, placing three steaming hot bowls of ramen in front of his favorite customer and one in front of Hinata. She paused to stare at it for a moment, breathing in the amazing smell.

"So are you going to introduce me to your lovely friend here?"

Iruka smiled at the man behind the counter, who quickly disappeared into the back room.

"Oh yeah!"

Naruto scratched behind his head again, slightly embarrassed. Hinata smiled at the gesture, oddly comforted by it.

"This is my friend Hina! She's from out of town."

Hinata held out her hand to the older man, bowing slightly and firmly shaking his hand.

"Umino Iruka, pleased to meet you."

"Hina…um…Tanaka."

She quickly decided on a common last name. Iruka nodded at her before turning back to Naruto.

"Where have you been hiding her all these years? Or was she just too embarrassed to be seen with you?"

Naruto sputtered, mumbling something as he attempted to gulp down his ramen as fast as possible.

"What do you know! I bet she's perfectly happy to be with me! Right?"

He looked down at Hinata with a pleading expression and she nodded before bursting into laughter. This man had an amazing ability to make anyone around him comfortable, even smiling up at her from a newspaper ad on her hotel room floor. Perhaps this was the reason Tsunade had named him her successor.

"Here you are."

The ramen shop owner had returned, placing a hot lunchbox in front of Iruka, who nearly began to drool.

"Thanks," he said, nodding to the shop owner.

"Well, you were saved this time, Naruto. But don't think you'll be so lucky the next time I catch you out with a girl! Nice to meet you, Hina."

With a wink at Hinata, the brown-haired man took off.

"Whatever, Iruka. When was the last time you were out with a girl?"

Hinata covered her mouth to stifle the giggles as Naruto continued to mumble into his food.

"Is he your father?"

Naruto began to choke on his ramen. Hinata hesitated again, before patting him on the back.

"N-no," he said, when he could finally breathe properly. "He was my teacher, at the academy."

"Oh."

Hinata was quiet. She had the distinct impression that it wasn't a subject she should have brought up.

"Iruka was the first person to believe in me," came the low response from her right. "My parents are dead."

"I'm so s-sorry," she stammered, suddenly awkward. "I s-shouldn't have brought it up; however you two seemed so close…"

She stared down at her lap, twisting her fingers in her napkin.

"It's okay. I never knew them. They died when I was very young...in the attack of the nine-tailed fox demon."

She shrunk back at the sound of his voice. It lacked its usual brightness. Suddenly Hinata couldn't think of anything but returning the happiness to his voice. He smiled slowly at her.

"It's really okay. It's not something anyone usually asks, because they already know."

Hinata nodded and swirled her chopsticks slowly in the noodles, her appetite gone.

"So…what do your parents do?"

There was a hint of nervousness in his voice as he asked, although Hinata couldn't imagine why. He probably just wanted to change the subject from his own parents.

"My mother is dead."

As she watched Naruto prepare to apologize, she shook her head.

"She died when I was young, much like yours."

He nodded and smiled. They sat, staring at each other. Hinata instinctively tightened her grip on her chopsticks. She had been taught not to let people in this close, that they were simply using her for her position. But this man, he seemed different. She was blown away by the open honesty in his eyes, and the idea that maybe, despite his vibrant personality, he was as lonely as she was.

"Oh, Naruto, would you like another bowl?"

Hinata jumped back as the ramen shop owner addressed Naruto, fumbling with her chopsticks to occupy herself with something. Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously, and ordered another bowl of chicken.

"So your father then," Naruto began bluntly, desperate to reestablish their conversation.

"What does he do?"

Hinata desperately searched her mind for an equivalent to being a king.

"Um…well, I suppose one would say he's in 'public relations.'"

"That's a lot of work isn't it?"

"Yes, I wouldn't care for it."

She smiled softly to herself as she said this. As her father's heir, she had no choice but to become queen someday.

"He's worked for…um...the same company for forty years," she finally said, as if that somehow meant that her father enjoyed his 'work.'

"I guess all that matters is if he likes it, right? I mean, he's been at it for forty years! That's a really long time!"

"Hn…"

"I've heard him complain now and again," Hinata said, reluctant to admit to Naruto that the only thing Hiashi Hyuuga complained about was her.

"Well if he hates it, he can just quit, right?"

Hinata stopped at his statement, ramen noodles halfway to her mouth. Quickly realizing the indignity of her position, she gulped them down and smiled softly at him. Before she could voice her reply, a stern female voice thundered behind them.

"Naruto Uzumaki! Where the hell have you been!"

**A/N:** I had to include the fainting in somewhere! ;)

Once again, thank you to all my reviewers, especially mori3 and uzukun7.

About the bowing: usually, when you bow in respect to someone, the depth and length of the bow is determined by their relationship to yours. In this case, Hinata's bow is deeper to the ramen shop owner than his is to her because he is older. If he knew that Hinata was a princess, however, his bow to her would be much deeper and hers would be smaller.

Yes, Naruto is aware of Hinata's father's 'real job' as king, but, since this chapter is more Hinata's POV, since she doesn't know that, he appears not to know, and doesn't pursue the subject further.

Original conversation between Joe Bradley and Princess Ann:

Ann: Well, mostly you might call it public relations.  
Joe: Oh, well, that's hard work.  
Ann: Yes. I wouldn't care for it.  
Joe: Does he?  
Ann: I heard him complain about it.  
Joe: Why doesn't he quit?  
Ann: Oh, people in that line of work almost never do quit, unless it's actually unhealthy for them to continue.


	12. Crash! Sakura Arrives on the Scene!

Ta-dah

Ta-dah! The next chapter of Konohagakure Holiday! Sorry it's been so long coming. Hopefully now that I have slightly better access to a computer and Wash is back from vacation, the chapters will be posted a bit faster.

Congratulations to destiny's sweet melody, who was absolutely right about Sakura. And thanks to uzukun7, mori3, Chronostorm, and newcomer gingystar555. Thank you all for the reviews!

This is a fanfiction, emphasis on the word 'fan,' as I am a fan of both "Roman Holiday" and "Naruto," but happen to own neither.

**Konohagakure Holiday**

Naruto shoveled the rest of his noodles into his mouth, attempting to delay the inevitable slap from his former teammate. As is turned out, it was a terrible lapse in judgment as the enraged woman stalked up behind him and punched Naruto's spine. Ramen noodles flew everywhere, narrowly avoiding the princess, who, in a display of excellent reflexes, had jumped backwards off of her seat just in time.

Sighing, Naruto turned, plastering a large smile on his face.

"Sakura! I was just looking for you and…"

"Shut up! Your excuses are lamer than Kakashi's ever were!"

She tossed her hair, as pink as her namesake, and turned her glare in the princess's direction.

Naruto also turned to his new friend, 'Hina,' and was surprised at what he saw. The petite woman's eyes were as big as saucers, but the rest of her face was tightly controlled as her fists clenched in either anger or determination. Naruto grinned in her direction, impressed. At least she wasn't a fainting type of princess, like the ones in those weird stories that Sakura and Ino had always read, giggling to themselves.

"Who are you?"

Sakura's pitch dropped an octave as her voice mellowed, addressing the princess. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. At least Sakura wasn't planning to take her anger out on a stranger.

"What are you grinning at, Naruto?" Sakura spat out before the princess could answer the question, and punched him again for emphasis.

"You still haven't told me why you skipped out on training this morning! Don't you dare think I'm letting you off the hook!"

"Well, I…"

"Are you hurt? Injured while you were skipping out on the ball last night?"

"No but…"

"And you couldn't have called me? Dropped by the hospital last night to tell me that I could possibly sleep in this morning after my shift instead of waking up early to train and waiting by myself for three hours!?"

Her voice was quiet now, laced with a lethal hint of hysterical fear that only comes from seeing people she knew and loved face mortal injury or die.

"I'm sorry!"

"And you didn't think I'd worry about you? Especially considering what day yesterday was?"

Naruto hung his head in shame, admitting defeat and staring down at his vest, which had absorbed the last of the spilt ramen broth, leaving noodles plastered against the fabric.

"I am sorry," a small, but commanding voice spoke. Naruto whipped his head up to see 'Hina' gracefully approach Sakura. His eyes widened and he mouthed, 'No,' to his companion while waving his arms wildly. She smiled demurely and pressed on, reaching her hand towards Sakura.

"It was I who detained Mr. Uzumaki," she said, her voice even and cool, bowing slightly.

Sakura blanched and accepted the preoffered hand as she bowed halfheartedly in response.

"You see, my name is Hina Tanaka with the Fire Country Dispatch. I was hoping to interview Mr. Uzumaki about his recent appointment to become the Sixth Hokage of Konohagakure and he offered to bring me here…"

"Of course he did," Sakura muttered under her breath.

"…to his favorite restaurant," Hina continued as if she had never been interrupted. "And treat me to a meal while we talked. Had I known…," she paused to fix a stern stare on Naruto, who played his part well by gulping and gesturing for the man behind the counter to bring him another bowl.

"…that he was previously engaged, obviously I would have scheduled an appointment for another time."

Naruto watched with baited breath. He finally exhaled when he saw Sakura's shoulders relax and the corners of her mouth creep up in a friendly smile.

"No, it's not your fault, Miss Tanaka. One wouldn't assume that the future hokage could be such a bonehead."

"Please, call me Hina."

"And I'm Sakura Haruno, but Sakura's fine. I don't really like to stand on titles."

"Neither do I," the princess smiled back charmingly and pulled up a seat on the other side of Naruto, motioning for her to sit down.

Naruto was mesmerized watching her seamless transition into a business professional. He gaped at her as if she had just diffused a rather tricky bomb, barely noticing while Sakura slid in next to him and stole his fresh bowl of ramen.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Uzumaki?"

He closed his mouth quickly and flashed her a grin.

"Not at all! And please, call me Naruto!"

She grinned back at him. It was the sunny, genuine smile that opened her entire face. Naruto resisted the urge to laugh, not in a mean way, but in a sort of comrade way, to symbolize that together they had pulled off a great caper.

"Has anyone told you," Sakura leaned over Naruto, interrupting the moment. "That you look exactly like…"

Sakura's voice cut off with a yelp as Naruto stomped on her foot.

"Naruto! What the hell was that for?!"

He shrugged sheepishly.

"Sorry, it was an accident."

"I'll show you an 'accident,'" she muttered, but didn't follow through on her threat as Hina smiled calmly back at her.

"Anyway, I had to attend the celebratory ball before my shift last night, and, except for the hair, you're a dead ringer for…"

Again, her voice cut off, this time in a shrill squeak as Naruto nudged the bowl of ramen into her lap.

'Na-ru-TO!"

Sakura dragged out his name, gritting her teeth as she bopped him on the head.

"I'm sorry, Hina, will you excuse us for a moment?"

The princess smiled, still perfectly calm and poised while Naruto found himself dragged into the sunny streets by his ear.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Have you been practicing super-strength with Granny Tsunade or something?"

Sakura merely glared at him.

"You mind telling me why you're having so many 'accidents' today?"

Naruto looked around suspiciously and led her a few feet away from the ramen stand.

"That's the princess."

"What?"

"The missing princess! The Land of Fire Princess!"

"Why is she with you?" Sakura narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest in disbelief.

"Well...," Naruto scratched the back of his head and blushed. "It's a long story."

Sakura raised her eyebrows before hitting him upside the head.

"Ouch! That really hurts, you know," Naruto yelled, rubbing his cheek in protest.

"You took advantage of a visiting royal family member!"

"What!? No I didn't! I found her, um, asleep and I let her crash on my couch! That's all, I swear!"

"Then why didn't you just say so instead of acting all embarrassed?"

"Why do you always jump to the conclusion that I'm a pervert?"

"Well who knows with that crazy sage mentor of yours!"

The two ex-teammates glared at each other, breathing heavily, before they both blinked and smiled at each other.

"I am really sorry that I didn't get in touch with you earlier, but Granny Tsunade was so upset about me missing the ball, and now there's this bet…"

"Bet?"

"I have to negotiate with her before the end of the day, but I have no idea where to start. Except I did get her to agree to spend the day with me. She says she wants to do a bunch of stuff she's never done before."

Sakura nodded and then narrowed her eyes in thought.

"Are you sure this princess is, well, alright? I mean, why isn't she at the palace anyway?"

"She's fine! And I dunno, I didn't ask," Naruto said quickly, oddly defensive of the young woman.

Sakura sighed and then nodded decisively.

"Fine, I'll help you," she said, ignoring the fact that Naruto had never asked for her help. "Let's see what she wants to do first."

**AN:** 'Pink as her namesake'- Sakura means cherry blossom in Japanese.

The 'accidents' are also a plot bunny from the movie, although I tweaked it a bit.

A cookie to anyone who guesses what day the day of the ball was, and why Naruto wasn't there.


	13. She Knows, He Knows, She Doesn't Know

"Are you going to date Naruto

Sorry! I know I haven't been able to update in a very long time. Not having a viable computer really sucks, and I don't always have time to go to a computer lab. I'll definitely try to update more frequently because I have so much already written! Anyway, thank you for all of your patience and sticking with this story. Wash, this is for you, your airplane, and your astigmatism. Thank you so much!

I still don't own either 'Roman Holiday' or 'Naruto.'

**Konohagakure Holiday**

"Are you going to date Naruto?"

Hinata nearly choked on her ramen before looking up to see a stony-faced girl staring up at her from his, now vacant, seat.

"No, I'm interviewing him."

"Oh."

The girl continued to glare at her as Hinata smiled sweetly, crinkling the corners of her eyes. After a few moments, the girl relaxed and began to swing her legs absentmindedly over the edge of the stool.

"He's going to be Ho-ka-ge someday," the girl said in a singsong voice.

Hinata laughed, politely covering her mouth out of habit.

"Yes, that is the subject of my interview."

"Cool!"

Hinata giggled again and smiled a bit more genuinely.

"Very cool."

The girl gave a happy cry of laughter before gazing off dreamily.

"I'm going to marry him someday."

"Well, anything is always possible," Hinata replied awkwardly, not wanting to burst the child's good mood.

"He's quite a catch," she added after the girl continued to gaze past her, lost in her own fantasy.

"Who's quite a catch?"

Hinata and the girl both jerked their heads up, startled. Naruto stood over his previous seat, now occupied with the unknown child, looking at Hinata curiously. Behind him, Sakura stood with her arms crossed, looking formidable.

"Nothing!"

The girl managed to spit this word out, obviously mortified, before leaping down and bolting out of the ramen stand into the crowd, leaving the stool spinning with a loud squeaking sound.

Hinata giggled. She covered her mouth with her hand again and blushing slightly, mumbled under her breath,

"Just some girl talk."

Naruto scratched his head, looking confused as he sat back down. Sakura snorted and shook her head, sitting down in the seat next to him.

"Ha! Who'd have thought that an idiot like you would have a fangirl?"

Naruto continued to stare at Hinata for a moment with a confused expression on his face.

"Hey! You take that back! I'm not an idiot!"

Hinata burst out laughing again and was now joined by Sakura. Naruto looked wildly around the room.

"I don't get it, what's so funny?"

Tears began streaming from Sakura's eyes as she collapsed in a fit of giggles next to Hinata, who managed to hold herself together much more demurely.

"Women," Naruto said disgustedly to the shopkeeper. "I'll tell ya, I'll never understand them."

The shopkeeper nodded seriously in a valiant effort to keep a straight face before mumbling that he had to go check up on the latest orders.

Sakura grinned over at Hinata as she righted herself in her barstool.

"You should definitely include that in your article, Hina."

Hinata nodded and pushed her half-eaten bowl towards the shop owner, bowing slightly. This caught Naruto's attention as he quickly brandished her abandoned chopsticks and scarfed down the leftovers.

"What?"

He countered Hinata's small gasp of surprise and Sakura's roll of her eyes by puffing out his chest and grinning.

"A leader has to be economical. Can't let anything go to waste!"

Hinata nodded, mock-seriously.

"That's a very good idea to keep in mind. Other countries leaders could learn a lot from you."

Oblivious to the humor in her reply, Naruto leaned closer towards her, giving her a large smile that showed off his unusual facial markings.

"That's what I've been saying for the longest time! I'm glad someone agrees with me," he said, putting an emphasis on the word 'someone' while blatantly nudging his body in Sakura's direction.

"Naruto, you moron! She wasn't actually agreeing with you!"

"Yes she was, weren't you?"

Hinata felt dizzy and lightheaded. It could have been that she was dehydrated, or that she hadn't really eaten much of her ramen, or maybe it was how very close Naruto's face was to her own, but she swayed a bit in her chair at the pleading sound of his voice. She recognized it. That desire to be taken seriously for once. Just once, to have somebody really listen to what he had to say.

"Yeah," she said, uncharacteristically without the proper words to express herself. "I understand completely."

Sakura rolled her eyes again and huffed a bit.

"You really don't have to keep up the joke, Hina. Now you're just being mean."

"No," Naruto said, remembering their moment earlier, "She understands."

Hinata nodded weakly up at Naruto and rose from her chair, forcing him to back away from her. The stool scraped loudly against the floor in the awkward silence that had settled over the trio.

"So…You wanted to see the sights right? I mean, ummm…," Naruto trailed off as Hinata shot a nervous glare at Sakura.

"You were just telling me, Naruto, how you were going to show her around, see what it's like in a typical day for the Hokage-to-be, right?"

Sakura quickly butted in, covering up the fact that she knew anything about who 'Hina' was.

Hinata covered up her sigh of relief with a bright smile. She quickly swallowed her sudden nervousness. Dehydration was definitely the reason for her lightheadedness, she told herself as she held out her arm.

"Shall we, Mr Uzumaki?"

"Why yes we shall, Ms. …Tanaka," he stumbled over her false name. "Where to?"

"Well, I've wanted to see that large monument with the Hokages' faces carved into it since I arrived here, and I've heard it's one of your favorite places."

She watched as Naruto's face lit up as he took her arm and winked.

"I hope you don't mind that it involves a long hike through the woods," he said, continuing the underlying conversation between them.

Suddenly dizzy again, Hinata accidentally walked into the stool he had neglected to push back into the counter.

"Naruto! Watch where you're leading her! You're going to make the worst impression," Sakura groaned, pushing the stool back in herself.

"It's okay, it was my fault," Hinata replied.

She shook her head slightly to clear it before once again smiling up at Naruto.

"Let's go."

**A/N:** Short chapter, I know, but I try to keep separate scenes separate and it just worked out that this one was shorter than most. It's about to get super confusing with Naruto and Sakura knowing who Hinata is but not wanting her to know and Hinata thinking that Sakura thinks that she is a reporter. Whew! Even writing it out is confusing.

'continuing the underlying conversation between them'- This first refers to the fact that Naruto found her on the Hokage monument, and secondly to chapter 10, when Naruto asks her what she wants to do, a walk in the woods is one of the things she lists.

Thanks for reading!


	14. Fight in the Forest!

I'm taking advantage of my computer time and updating as much as possible. Usually I try to sway back and forth making chapters more Hinata-centric, or more Naruto-centric, but, as I mentioned in the previous chapter, 13 and 14 break at a necessary, but awkward point. At the suggestion of Wash, I kept this chapter more Hinata-centric, (it's actually more Sakura-centric than anything) which breaks the previous cycle. I don't own anything but the plot. Enjoy!

I forgot to do shout-outs last time so this is for uzukun7 and Chrikaru. Thanks a lot for the feedback!

**Konohagakure Holiday**

Halfway through their trek up to the summit of the Hokage Monument, Hinata realized that she had not yet passed Sakura's test. Sakura had momentarily accepted her as an ally in embarrassing Naruto, but she obviously still had a lot to prove in Sakura's eyes. The pink-haired woman fired question after question at her as they climbed, and to make matters worse, Hinata had her hands full feigning fatigue, deciding that it would be odd if a supposed journalist somehow had the stamina of a trained ninja.

"So what do you think of Naruto so far?"

This was Sakura's next question, and Hinata paused a moment, leaning against a nearby tree and pretending to catch her breath. It was a very tricky question.

"He's a very admirable person," she finally said, stumbling a bit as she continued to walk.

"Yeah, and a very annoying and inconsiderate person."

Sakura grumbled a bit as she said this, leaning forward at just the right time to grab Hinata's upper arm and keep her from falling.

"See!? He doesn't even care about your well-being! You're a journalist, not a ninja! Why should he expect you to make this climb?"

Her voice became louder and louder in punchy yells that echoed by the end of her sentence.

Hinata bit back a giggle. She hadn't meant to appear quite so inadequate and helpless, knowing that she could have easily run up the rocky trail or even flash-stepped through the trees. Hinata stifled another giggle as it occurred to her that she had probably done exactly that the night before, acting on autopilot as the sleeping pills had begun to kick in. Unfortunately she only remembered vague flashes of moonlight and leaves.

Adopting a peaceful and serene mask, Hinata feigned breathlessness once more and looked up the trail towards the oblivious Naruto.

"You think so?" She finally said, pausing to study him.

"That's not what I see at all."

Hinata, caught up in gazing at Naruto, missed Sakura's piercing look.

"Look. He looks straight ahead. His eyes are always up, his head is always high. You say he's inconsiderate, but I don't think so. Right now he's excited to show us someplace he loves. He's not thinking about how to get there, only of the joy at the end. Some would say that it's an admirable and enviable quality."

Her voice became dreamy and her throat closed, jealous of his straightforwardness. If only she could adopt the same method of dealing with people. Of dealing with her family. She paused a minute more before turning wordlessly and starting up the path again.

Sakura, stunned into silence, remained frozen as she watched 'Hina's' retreating back continue to stumble on the uneven ground. She couldn't remember a time when she had been so soundly, and politely, put in her place.

"How dare she," Sakura whispered under her breath. Her eyes narrowed, as her body burned with hatred towards the princess.

"She doesn't know anything about me. Or about Naruto! What would she know, leading her perfect life as a perfect princess," Sakura continued to whisper, stomping up the mountain after 'Hina.'

"Hey, Sakura! You okay back there?"

Naruto's voiced echoed from the path ahead and his head peeked out from around a corner.

"You're smashing as much stuff as Chouji does when he uses an expansion jutsu!"

Laughing heartily at his own joke, Naruto grinned until he saw the expression on Sakura's face. His own expression quickly fell, replaced by a look of fear as he nervously backed up the path and disappeared around the corner.

"I'll…uh…just keep walking then…," his voice drifted back to her.

"Yeah, you do that, idiot," Sakura mumbled, not really sure who she was angry at anymore.

**A/N:** If the last chapter was short, this one was REALLY short, but I wanted to break up the two chapters like this because it keeps them as separate scenes.

I don't mean to make Sakura only the 'bitch' and foil to Hinata's perfectness (as some NaruHina stories tend to do). She's a complex character with her own issues and I tried to write how she would feel if someone, who has only known her best friend for a few hours, suddenly reveals to her a side that she never picked up on or noticed. She feels angry, but also embarrassed that she didn't pick up on that side of Naruto first. Hopefully this comes across, but if it doesn't, I'm very sorry.


	15. Race up Hokage Mountain!

I still don't own Naruto or Roman Holiday. Thank you to uzukun7, and Chronostorm as always. Also thanks to newcomer Kaylyn0706. I really appreciate all of the reviews! uzukun7, you were spot on with your prediction.

**Konohagakure Holiday**

"I just don't get it," Naruto said, scratching his chin and frowning.

"What did I do to her? What do I ever do to her?"

"Oh, she's not angry at you," a soft voice piped up from behind him.

Naruto looked over his shoulder and saw the princess leaning against a tree, catching her breath. He frowned again. According to the briefing from Tsunade, which admittedly he had only listened to half of, the princess was supposed to be a well-trained kunoichi. Pushing his thoughts of Sakura aside, he turned around and walked over to 'Hina,' putting on his brightest smile.

"Don't worry! It's nothing that the future hokage can't fix! I'm more worried about you!"

She smiled weakly as he held his hand out to her. When their fingertips brushed lightly, she backed away and pushed herself off of the tree.

"Thanks, but I'm fine," she said, continuing to smile in her emotionless way.

Naruto shrugged and stopped, waiting for the princess to continue. He couldn't resist throwing in a slight jab at Sakura while he stood, constantly moving and twitching as if it were impossible to keep his own body still.

"You going to join the group or stay back there and sulk all day?"

"Oh shut up, Naruto. What do you know about anything," she grumbled.

He heard the sadness in her voice and stopped twitching. No matter what the princess had said, somehow he had really upset his teammate.

"I know I can beat you to the top!" Naruto punctuated his challenge by sprinting up the path and away from the two women.

"Naruto! Get back here!"

He heard Sakura's fading yell as he rounded a corner, now completely out of their sight.

"That ought to cheer her up a bit! Nothing like a good challenge," he said happily to himself.

Sakura had stopped beside the princess and assumed her most indignant pose, hands on her hips and nose in the air.

"Hina can't go as fast as we can! She isn't a ninja!"

Mildly annoyed at the lack of response from her teammate she quickly switched her tone from angry to disgruntled.

"Honestly, I never know what he's thinking!"

She said this lightly, and the softer undertone in her voice became a verbal olive branch to 'Hina.'

"It's okay. You don't have to stay back here with me," the princess said.

Sakura shrugged and fell into step beside the petite woman.

"Really it's alright," the princess continued, pointing at the dust cloud and small avalanche of pebbles that Naruto had left in his wake. "You should try to catch up to him."

"Nah, let him wait. It'll be his fault when he gets lonely and bored being all by himself up there."

The princess nodded in reply and an awkward silence settled between the two. Suddenly 'Hina' giggled softly.

"What's so funny?" Sakura asked. Her voice held a mixture of anger, if the princess was mocking her, and camaraderie, if the princess was making fun of Naruto.

"What if we beat him to the top?" The smaller, darker-haired girl asked.

"You're crazy," Sakura said plainly, hoping that the princess wouldn't take offense. Luckily, 'Hina' just smiled and giggled again. A mischievous twinkle had settled in her eye that Sakura hadn't known that an uptight member of royalty would possess.

"What if we beat him to the top?" 'Hina' repeated.

Sakura bit her tongue, resisting the urge to point out that the princess was physically weaker than Naruto.

"It's alright. He always does these stupid challenges. I guess I should let him win for once," the pink-haired woman said.

The princess responded by bolting up the path with shocking speed. Sakura narrowed her eyes. A few minutes ago the woman had been leaning against a tree, catching her breath.

"Who the hell are you," she whispered under her breath.

"We shouldn't just let him win," the princess called back at Sakura before disappearing completely out of sight.

"Yeah, well at least, I shouldn't just let him win," Sakura mumbled as she took off after the mysterious woman.

Hinata was barely breathing heavily when she reached the top of the rocky path; however, she decided that she had already shown Sakura too much. It had been reckless of her to accept Naruto's challenge if she was going to remain undetected as the princess. Adopting a slight gasp, she walked slowly towards the blond-haired man.

"That is a very long walk," she said.

Naruto smiled before turning his attention to the expansive view and tilting his head slightly towards Konohagakure below. Hinata followed his lead and took in the red and tan rooftops, watching the river lazily wind its way through as various dots of bicycles and people teemed in and out of her sight.

"This is a very pretty place," Hinata told him. "Thank you very much for bringing me here."

"It's my favorite place." His voice held a tremor that she was certain didn't surface often.

"Why," she demanded softly. She resisted the urge to ask, 'when it makes you so sad.'

Naruto shrugged and looked past his feet, down the jagged edges that made up the Fourth Hokage's face.

"I came here a lot as a kid," he finally answered, running his fingers nervously through his hair.

"They kind of…kept me company when I was alone." He gestured down towards the stern faces carved into the mountainside, watching over the deceptively sleepy-looking town.

"What of your parents?"

"I uh…I didn't know who they were for the longest time," he replied awkwardly, gazing down at the Fourth again.

"What of the other children?" The gravity of the situation weighed on Hinata as she reverted to her more formal style of speech.

She knew the answers to all of these questions as they came flooding back into her mind from Tenten's briefing. Hinata remembered tracing her fingers over his photograph in a newspaper and only now did she connect the two men. It was amazing to her that he would open up so easily, and she found herself captivated by what she knew of his story. Tenten had warned her several times against mentioning the Kyuubi in Konohagakure, especially since the day before had celebrated its demise. It was something no one talked about, Tenten had said, but everybody knew.

"They didn't like me very much." She heard him say.

"I'm so loud and I was kind of a troublemaker, I disrupted class a lot. I can be kind of a pain!" He said this with a false brightness that made Hinata angry.

She stepped closer towards him, blushing at the proximity.

"Stop."

It was a simple command, but so full of emotion, Hinata was floored when she didn't stutter. She became more surprised when he stopped. Stopped fidgeting and stopped smiling. Hinata faltered a bit under the pressure of his blue eyes as they stared at her. She slowly reached out her hand, grasped his, and squeezed.

"It is okay," she said.

"It is okay not to smile sometimes. I'm sure your friends wouldn't mind. I know Sakura wouldn't."

Naruto was shocked. It was the first time someone had questioned his consistently cheery demeanor. He stared down at the tiny princess and slowly felt a broad, genuine smile begin to spread across his face. Naruto had inwardly berated her for hiding her smile all day while doing the exact same thing himself. No one had ever noticed it before.

"We're a lot alike I guess," he said, knowing that his words were awkward and inadequate for what he was feeling right now.

"I know…," he started, and then stopped before admitting he knew her identity. "We're just a lot alike, I guess," he repeated lamely.

She blushed and quickly dropped his hand as she heard Sakura approaching behind them.

"Welcome to the party slowpoke!" Naruto said this with genuine enthusiasm as he turned to greet his teammate.

"Yeah, yeah," Sakura said as she joined Naruto and the princess.

"So what do you want to do now?" Naruto asked the dark-haired girl.

The princess shrugged and smiled.

"We can stay here a bit longer," she said.

"Alright! Especially since I know Sakura brought some food with her!" Naruto responded, eyeing Sakura's pack hungrily.

"You just ate," the princess said, sounding slightly confused.

"Believe me, Hina," Sakura sighed. "You have no idea."

**A/N:** This was one of my favorite chapters to write (the other one comes later on in the story). These next chapters are also going to start pulling away slightly from the 'Roman Holiday' storyline in order to keep the integrity of the 'Naruto' characters.

Thank you for reading! There are tons of other stories that are a lot better than mine, but I really appreciate you taking the time to read this one!


	16. Sakura and the Shrine

I don't own Naruto or Roman Holiday.

Thank you to uzukun7 and everyone else who has reviewed this story! Keep them coming, it definitely makes an author feel good.

My computer is fixed so updates should come at slightly more regular intervals now, depending on how many mistakes Wash has to pick out. Enjoy!

**Konohagakure Holiday**

Hinata took a deep breath. She had nearly completed a successful half of a day without Naruto or Sakura realizing her true identity.

"This is exhausting," she murmured aloud to herself.

Pretending to be someone else for an entire day was wearing her out. She couldn't remember what she had already said to the two of them. For the majority of the small snack at the Hokage Mountain peak, at which only Naruto had eaten anything, she had tried to remain silent. It was a self-imposed assignment that was easily achieved, especially surrounded by Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura.

The two fought like…well, like family, Hinata admitted to herself with a twinge of jealousy. Other than her cousin Neji, she had never really connected with any of her family.

"Where would you be without me?" Sakura grumbled as Hinata tuned in to their conversation.

"That's exactly what I just said," Naruto protested. "You just never listen to me!"

"You're going to be the Hokage soon! Doesn't that mean anything to you? You have to start becoming more responsible. You're going to be responsible for the entire village!"

At this comment Hinata saw a dark flash pass through his eyes before he narrowed them at his pink-haired opponent.

"Is this just because I didn't let you know where I was yesterday? I told you that it was no big deal!"

Sakura's eyes widened and she quickly thumped Naruto on the head.

"It's not about that, idiot! But while we're on the subject…"

Hinata began to tune her out again as a thought that had crept through her mind since their meeting at the ramen stand made its way to the forefront of her mind.

"Oh…are they…dating?"

She whispered this to herself, knowing that the two were wrapped up in their own argument. The words sounded awkward and ugly as they tumbled from her mouth.

The weight of the thought caused her to sit down on a nearby rock. They had nearly reached the base of the mountain anyway and the ground had become flat. She would easily be able to see them in front of her, and if they left her too far behind, she could always activate her byakugan.

Hinata clenched her fists. The thought bothered her, certainly. However she couldn't figure out why the idea seemed so horrible to her.

"I have only known him for less than a day," she said, trying to calm herself by pressing her two index fingers together nervously.

"But it feels like so much longer than that. And she doesn't understand him! Not in the way that I do…," she trailed off, knowing how spoiled she sounded.

Looking ahead on the path, she saw tears welling up in Sakura's eyes as Naruto's face fell, and he resigned himself to comforting his teammate.

"I will make this the most wonderful day of my life," she said.

Hinata rose and unclenched her fists, walking slowly, but proudly towards the still arguing pair with a determination that would have made Naruto proud.

"…I'm sorry, okay! I just…I like spending my birthday alone is all."

Sakura made an annoyed sound in the back of her throat, signifying the end of the argument.

"You have people now who will support you," she said softly.

Hinata could hear the desperation in her voice. She resisted the sudden urge to go and comfort the young woman, realizing that, despite the fact that they were dating, Sakura would never be able to understand him.

"I know!" He fidgeted awkwardly under her stare.

"Ouch!" Hinata yelled and fell on her face.

It was unladylike, and she surely would have been scolded if she had fell like that inside the palace. Out at the base of Hokage Mountain, it became a lifeline, thrown to Naruto as an easy exit from his conversation.

He grabbed hold of it like a dying man, and Hinata couldn't help but smile as he rushed back eagerly to assist her. Remembering that she was supposed to be hurt, she quickly contorted her face into what she hoped looked like pain.

"Are you okay," he asked.

"I-I think s-so."

It was easy to pretend a painful stutter when his face was so close to hers.

Blushing, Hinata took his offered hand and he helped her up off of the ground.

"Hina, are you alright?"

Sakura had run over to the pair and was now peering at her over Naruto's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I'll have to be more careful," she exclaimed, brushing leaves and twigs from her jacket.

"Sorry, Hina, we kind of got caught up in an argument," Naruto said, looking embarrassed as he ran his fingers through his hair. It was one of his many nervous habits, Hinata observed.

"It's okay, we're done arguing now," Sakura added. "Until this idiot does something stupid again."

"Until she starts nagging me again," Naruto countered with a grin.

Hinata smiled as she fell in step next to the two teammates. Clenching her fists, she prepared herself to ask the question she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer to.

"S-so how long have you two been dating?"

Naruto looked around the path, making sure that the princess wasn't talking to anyone else before bursting out laughing.

Sakura followed his lead by snorting and turning away to gaze off into the underbrush.

"You know, Hina, it's funny you ask that. You don't know how many times she turned me down…"

He smiled in the face of Sakura's inevitable annoyed glare.

"…but it never would have worked anyway. We realized that a long time ago especially since Sakura is in love with that bastard Sasuke."

"Naruto!" she said fiercely, tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't say his name like that! He'll come back someday, I know it!"

"Well it's true!"

Hinata nodded her head slowly, pausing a moment before remembering where she had heard the name 'Sasuke' before. Judging by Sakura's reaction, they were more that likely talking about the Konohagakure missing-nin Sasuke Uchiha.

"I'm…sorry…I asked," Hinata said timidly.

"It's okay."

These words were surprisingly spoken by Sakura, who brushed her hand over her eyes a moment before turning back to Hinata.

"Really, it's okay. He's probably gone and I should give up, or something, but I can't."

Hinata hesitated before slowly walking over to the other woman and awkwardly giving her a hug. She couldn't begin to understand what Sakura was going through and she decided not to pretend to.

"I put something for him right up here actually," Sakura said.

She led them a short distance away from the main path into a small clearing. There, on the side of a stone wall, Hinata saw rows of tacked up photographs. Some were accompanied by small and colorful paper lanterns, or flowers.

"What is this place," Hinata asked. She bent down to finger the soft rose petals of a wilted bouquet.

Sakura looked nervously back at Naruto before continuing.

"During the Kyuubi attack…there was a man with four children. His wife was in the ANBU and had been called to fight."

Hinata watched Naruto's face as Sakura continued to talk. Many emotions flickered across his face, ranging from sadness to anger.

"He lived at the base of the mountain, and when the Kyuubi attacked, he managed to escape his ruined house. He ended up bringing his children here."

Sakura bent over a faded photograph, hidden behind the others. It had no flowers or lantern to accompany it.

"They heard the fighting, and a few times the Kyuubi approached…but they ended up being spared."

Hinata continued to watch Naruto as he looked sadly at the wall.

"Now, it's become a lucky place. People come here and leave pictures or inscriptions of loved ones who have left to fight in far away places. If the wish has been fulfilled, they'll hang a paper lantern."

"That's a lovely story," Hinata whispered, her breath catching in her throat.

"Read some of the inscriptions."

Naruto said this hoarsely, pointing at a few poems and phrases that had been posted next to various pictures.

"You can even make a wish if you want to," he said, some of his good humor returning to his face.

Hinata closed her eyes and allowed the dream that had slowly begun to develop in her mind to become a fervent, selfish wish.

"Hey you look pretty intense. Want to tell me what you wished for?"

Naruto wiggled his eyebrows at her jokingly.

"Not on your life," she whispered, smiling up at him.

**A/N: **There is a scene in Roman Holiday that this chapter is based off of. Joe and Princess Ann visit a memorial where a man and his four children were saved from an air raid. "Lovely story," and "Read some of the inscriptions," are direct quotes.

Also, the misconception of Hinata assuming Sakura and Naruto are dating is of my design only. Predictable and cliché, yes. From the original Roman Holiday, no, considering that Sakura's character is actually a male photographer in the movie.

It was a hard decision whether to include Sasuke or not. Usually he is used as a foil to Naruto and there is so much behind their relationship that I considered not mentioning him at all. Hopefully it works.

Please review, good or bad!


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